Compromise
by everworld2662
Summary: J.D needs a mentor. Dr. Cox needs to feel a controlhigh to make any kind of medical decision. Slash. Update, Ohemgee.
1. I : Control

Compromise

**Length: Not a One Shot! Wow!  
****Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox  
****Rating: M (smile…)  
****Warnings: Slash, obviously. And see above.  
****Set: Post 5th Season.  
****A/N: Just important to know; I casually ignore the whole OMGSHE'SPREGNANT thing here…mainly because she annoys me so much I can't even dredge up her name in my memory.  
****A/N 2: Inspired by the best damn House/Wilson fic I have ever read, _Contamination_. The idea of it is BEAUTIFUL. And I don't mean to rumor part, even thought that rocks. I mean the whole..."i care about you enough not to want to lose you" thing. Which just made me cry. Okay I'll quieten down now…**

I: Control

Ever since Jill Tracy had been diagnosed – a little late – with rabies, Dr. Cox had had disturbing trouble making decisions. Especially when a life balanced on the right or wrong of those decisions. Elliot Reid had already caught him out on that once, but the blonde doctor could do nothing to restore his confidence. And, truth be told, Perry Cox was beginning to worry. And for the first time in his life, he wasn't worrying about the patients. He was worrying about himself. Because he had no idea – just no idea –what he would do if he caused another patient's death by another wrong decision.

What's more, oddly enough, he had been feeling more depressed than usual; both at work and at home, though admittedly he could not dwell on it as much at Sacred Heart because every ounce of his concentration was invested in upholding his confident façade.

He would never, ever, _ever _show up to work drunk again.

"Dr. Cox!"

J.D approached him, ridiculously hesitant, that idiotic smile on his face. Dr. Cox hated the way J.D always said his name; with such excitement. It made him cringe.

"If you have a second, I was wondering if I should push the ole' thrombos with this guy?"

Dr. Cox quirked an eyebrow, curiosity overcoming the urge to berate the younger man.

"Thrombos – you know, thrombolitics." The doctor laughed, hands on hips in an oddly coquettish way.

"Good _god _Tracy. You are a _doctor_ now. You should know these things. You are a _doctor_ – should I even bother with this or just go right ahead and have the Janitor rig the loudspeakers so that they can remind you every five minutes that people's _lives _depend on you? It might save me the trouble of following you around everywhere. Now get out of my sight, Lucy, you just about make me sick when you come here whinging after all this time. Wah! Wah! Wah!" Flinching – that was odd, he hadn't seen that before – J.D backed away from him with a quick roll of his eyes.

Dr. Cox started down the hallway, but suddenly a mop was flung in his path. Suppressing a growl, he turned to face the Janitor, who as regarding him solemnly. He found himself hoping this wouldn't take long, because he dimly knew he needed to get the hell out of there before someone else asked him to make a potentially disastrous decision.

"What?"

"Just so you know, I would never rig the loudspeaker for you. Even if I could. Kelso got every lock in the building changed after he found the storage of my taxidermy squirrel collection."

"Fascinating," Dr. Cox managed after a moment of blank staring. "Are we done, jumpsuit?"

The Janitor nodded and moved his mop, and Dr. Cox walked extremely quickly down the hallway, a hand in front of his face like a shield, trying not to look as if he was running.

Apparently, it was about power.

Sitting at the couch with a scotch between his knees, Dr. Cox drummed his fingers on the coffee table, waiting for Jordan to get home.

Tuesday's were his least favorite day; because they were the days he met and spoke with his shrink. Coined in with the morning's disaster, he should have been knocking back more than that tiny glass of alcohol right now, but his mind was whirring too much for drunkenness.

Apparently, it was about control.

He needed to feel in control to get some of his confidence back. Or so said his shrink. _Both _of his shrinks.

And, if he couldn't get control back at work because he wasn't confident enough – he scowled – then that left at home.

Jordan pushed her way into the living room, keys in her mouth and grocery bags in each hand. Awkwardly, she spat the keys onto the carpet.

"You mind giving me a little help here?"

"Quite frankly? Yes."

All the same, he did get up, but instead of bringing the bags into the kitchen, he merely took them from her hands before capturing her mouth in a bruising kiss.

She pushed him away.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" She snapped, flipping out her compact to reapply her lipstick. "Before we had a kid together it was fine for you to initiate this whole baby-making process. But you're my bitch now, Perry, not the other way round."

Hoping the hopelessness wasn't showing on his face, Dr. Cox shrugged and sunk back into the sofa. He picked up the remote.

He had to do something soon, before he killed someone.

"Dr. Cox! Dr. Cox!"

He spun around, irritation already on his face.

"Doctor Barbie!"

"Yeah, you know, the whole _blonde Barbie _thing is getting a bit old now. I might even dye my hair blonde, just to spite you..."

He whistled, and she jumped.

"Oh, Dr. Cox, you told me it "might" be a good time to start treatment this morning."

Jordan hadn't exactly helped with the control thing.

"Well…what did you mean by "might"?" Quickly, she ploughed on. "Dr. Cox, please don't yell at me! I know I'm a doctor know, but this patient is a very difficult case, plus she wears this totally overpowering perfume so you know – _oh_ – I just don't want to screw up!"

She was practically wringing her hands.

"Calm down, Barbie. You were right to come to me."

"Oh, really? Great!" Her face brightened considerably. "So…do you…think you could…give me the answer?"

"I need to pee," he answered after a moment, and saw her eyes narrow.

He took off at an almost run, cursing himself for his lack of inventiveness. Worse, he knew he didn't have much time now.

Power! Control!

How was he meant to get that back in the space of five minutes? He hadn't even been able to scream at Elliot, the only person who still took his rants semi-seriously and as for anyone else…even Newbie seemed to find them amusing, now.

Nervous Guy!

"Laverne!"

The buxom nurse paused, clipboard in hand.

"Have you seen Murphy?"

"He's sick today," she told him levelly before moving off in the direction of the Nurse's Station.

Nurse's Station. Carla! He could grab her and…no. Berating Carla had, in the past, only further dented his self-esteem and as for kissing her…

Dr. Cox could almost already feel the slap burning his cheeks.

Elliot was always a thought – not for the yelling, the kissing – but he was meant to be in the bathroom right now, not trying to give himself an ego boost so he could answer a simple medical question. He would never be able to live that down, he realized.

No, no, he needed…

"Dr. Cox!"

That strangely high pitched bouncy voice…and for once, Dr. Cox wasn't unhappy to hear it. Utter relief swept through him. With one, quick, sharp glance around, he grabbed J.D by the neck of his scrubs and shoved him against the wall of Sacred Heart Hospital with a kiss.

J.D stood stock-still, and, thankfully, did absolutely nothing – neither reciprocating nor pushing the older man away. Dr. Cox's eyes bored into his – he wasn't about to close them, after all! – and relief still flickered in them.

The kiss _was _a relief; it felt about as satisfying as delivering a punch to someone's face, and in exactly the same way. Something – confidence – flooded into him, and Dr. Cox let his hands fall away from where they had been trapping J.D against the wall. Even that tiny loss of control was a pang, so he made the kiss more bruising than ever. Finally, he pulled away, and seeing J.D staring at him, frozen, lips still swollen, was just another thrill of satisfaction.

Unfortunately, he had no time to explain. Instead, he gave J.D his most fierce glare and sped down the corridors to find Barbie to tell her treatment should have gone ahead weeks ago, and that a man was dying for chrissakes because she was too busy blow drying her hair every morning to go to the convenience store around the corner and purchase some common sense.

In those exact words.


	2. II : Learning

Compromise

**Length: Not a One Shot! Wow!  
****Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox  
****Rating: M (smile…)  
****Warnings: Slash, obviously. And see above.  
****Set: Post 5th Season.  
****A/N: Just had…speechless fun writing this. The rants are _so _enjoyable to write, but I got to be careful, or else I end up having them sliding off my tongue too. And that makes people look at me strangely. Much longer than the first part – lucky, lucky you – but the down part is you'll have to wait longer for an update now because the rest? Yeah, I haven't written it yet. Hope you like & hope it's at least _vaguely _in character…am pleased with the Elliot, Carla, The Janitor & Turk touches in here…it's important that they're actually a _part _of the story too. Oh and Jayne…Jordan/Elliot! I so want to write it in somewhere as a subplot…should I? "_Should I?_" (Elliot/Cox & if you don't get the reference you've been watchin' too much House and not enough Scrubs, girl.) **

II: Learning

It took J.D most of the morning to remember where he had been going when he had happened across Dr. Cox. He still couldn't quite believe what had happened. He didn't even understand what _had _happened. Maybe Dr. Cox had been drunk, although he certainly hadn't tasted of alcohol.

_No! _He screwed up his eyes. _Don't think about how he tasted! _

"…J.D?"

J.D glanced up in surprise to see Turk.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing." He tried for a nonchalant voice but Turk raised an eyebrow. "Just thinking about…Elliot."

The moment he said it he regretted it, but his best friend's voice echoed through his head: _Dude, you can't _not _think about her that way_; and he knew he had made a believable choice.

He just had to hope Elliot wouldn't believe it.

"J.D, you can't still…?" The surgeon made a face at him.

"Turk, you can't tell Carla."

"Dude, she's my wife. She'll get it out of me." With that he hopped off the counter he had been slouching on and began to walk away.

"But Carla will tell Elliot!" J.D cried frantically.

"Not my fault!" Turk yelled back without looking around. "Do you want a doughnut?"

"Ahrg!" J.D hit the wall in frustration, wincing seconds after.

"Dude. I thought you knew better to do that after the last time…"

Was he talking about Elliot, or the wall? The thought made him angry.

"I thought you'd _gone_."

"Going!" Turk rolled his eyes and disappeared into a patient's room.

J.D stalked angrily down the corridor, only finally relaxing when he reached the Nurse's Station. He shouldn't have…

"Bambi!" Carla took a hold of his chin. "What have you got on your mouth?"

J.D jumped away.

"Nothing!"

Carla raised an eyebrow. "If you say so. Here are your charts, Bambi. You're about…an hour behind already, so I think I can guess what's on your mouth." She smacked hers as if to emphasize her point before going back behind the counter.

J.D ignored her wink as he took the charts and trudged miserably off to Room 403 to get started, praying that he wouldn't bump into Dr. Cox, or, as a matter of fact, anyone at all.

J.D got lucky for that day, but the rest of the week was hell for him. Elliot had already heard about him supposedly liking her, for which he blamed Carla's fat mouth. The latter would not stop asking him who he had made out with. Turk, meanwhile, put the two together and with the help of the ever-interfering Carla gave birth to a hundred rumors that were now circulating about him and Elliot and which Elliot blamed him for, of course. But worst of all was Dr. Cox.

The first time he had seen him after the Incident (capitalized and underscored in J.D's mind), he had opened his mouth to demand an explanation and his mentor had cut him off in a now familiar way. Grabbing him by the shirt of his scrubs, pushing him into the Janitor's supply closet…J.D tried clenching his mouth shut, but that only resulted in smooth hands slipping over his chest forcefully, and all things considered he thought he preferred the kiss.

It was complicated, really, because J.D did not exactly feel violated, nor was Dr. Cox a bad kisser. On the contrary; even forceful, the kiss seemed to match both their mouths perfectly. It was just that…he felt nothing for the man, nothing at all, at least, in the romance department. He was more into girls anyway, girls like Elliot, soft and pretty. Dr. Cox was anything but. J.D found him attractive, but he was certainly not attracted _by _him. He idolized him, that was all.

And so the weight of the man's mouth on his was incongruous and uncomfortable, and J.D wished it had not happened to begin with.

But it kept happening, all over the hospital, without rhyme or reason, or even an explanation from the perpetuator. And yet, at other times, his mentor would act perfectly normal: demanding to know why he had not pushed thrombolitics yet and calling him Cassandra. J.D couldn't make sense of it.

Till finally, he had enough.

Growling, he caught Dr. Cox's lab coat and hung on to it with all his might. The doctor turned his head, apparent irritated.

"What _is _it, Monique?"

"What – what - ?" J.D was furious for a second. _What _is _it? What do you _think _it is! _"What are you doing?"

"Right now? Scheduling Mr. Burns for a pacemaker."

"No! I mean, what on earth are you _doing_?"

"Oh." Dr. Cox rolled his eyes and plucked J.D's hands off him. "It's like this, Susan. According to my shrink, a man who I despise but admit may have occasional insight into things like why I drink and why my son, though approaching five, has yet to utter the fond words "Da-Da", I subconsciously associate confidence with control. Now, to avoid me tragically killing someone and then even more tragically killing my_self_, I've decided to get that control boost from _you_. Now, if you're finished with those charts – _what_?"

"How – how long –?"

"Until I get my confidence in my work back." He seemed confident enough to J.D! For that reason, he could only gape, and Dr. Cox sighed.

"Shouldn't take more than 12 months. Jordan is always lecturing me about the frailty of the human ego. Now, are we done? Good, because you have patients to get to, if they haven't already signed off from your service, that is. This hospital is not a giant bed for you to daydream of Blondie Returns over there in. Now _go_!"

J.D left glumly, and would have started crying outside the lockers if the Janitor hadn't been there, methodically removing lock after lock.

"This one's yours?" He asked as J.D slammed it shut. Miserably, he nodded.

"Thank you. Been looking for that all day. Never did forget what a good read your diary was."

"You read my diary!" J.D yelped.

The Janitor chuckled, applying pliers to his padlock.

* * *

When J.D came to work on Monday he was determined to find Dr. Cox and have A Talk with him (also capitalized and underscored in his mind) and get the hell to stop. He even had Elliot's rape whistle around his neck; he toyed with it idly whilst he paced in front of the double doors. They slid open, and Dr. Cox walked in.

"Dr. Cox!"

"We discussed this Newbie. The Big Cheese or nothing."

J.D was momentarily flabbergasted.

"But you said "Doctor" was also OK." _How could he remember that? He didn't hang on the man's every word! _

"Big Cheese!" Dr. Cox snapped his fingers.

"Big Cheese?" J.D asked wearily, and finally, the doctor looked at him. "This needs to stop."

"What needs to stop?"

_I must not throw a punch at him_. He knew all to well how that would end.

"_This_. I don't care about your…screwy little control issues, OK? And if you touch me again, I'm blowing this."

Dr. Cox stared at him as his voice became a little shrill and he held the whistle to his mouth.

"Hey, when did you get the same rape-whistle as me?"

Elliot snatched her charts off the counter as she breezed off without waiting for an answer. _She's not angry anymore,_ he realized happily. J.D thanked god that Elliot had not felt the need to wear hers today (she would have found it mysteriously missing), what with Jordan being out of the building for once.

Dr. Cox was still staring at him.

"Nice rape-whistle there Trisha, mine's hot pink, but you don't have to worry I'm going deflower you. I told you why I'm doing this. If I don't, I'm going to end up killing someone. Just like I taught your bald husband; ego is good. Usually, it prevents you from murdering your patients by being overly cautious or too nervous to think straight. Alright?"

"No, it's not alright!" J.D stamped his foot, and then cringed as pain shot through his leg. He ploughed on regardless. "It's not…ow…fair on me! Get somebody – else!"

"Like who?" Dr. Cox tossed the clipboard and missed, sending it spinning over the counter of the Nurse's Station. Coffee Nurse scowled and picked it up. "Fine, Newbie, I'll stop. But that means you no longer get to trail around me like a lost puppy and ask me questions, are we clear?"

The threat worked a marvel, even though he could tell Dr. Cox hadn't intended it as a threat. "What!"

He arched an eyebrow.

"Gretel, have you not been listening to me? I'm not going to advise you on how to treat your patients and end up killing half of them because I have…"

"Screwy self esteem," J.D supplied in a hollow voice.

"Right."

The older man turned away from him and began to head off before J.D found his voice.

"Wait!"

"What is it? Remember, no advice."

J.D found himself wishing the man had called him a girl's name – any name. Just called him _something_.

"I…need you to be my mentor."

"And you _also _said that was _your _problem when we spoke about this, but you're somehow making it mine? Look, Newbie, you seem to have trouble understanding the deal here. And how many times do I have to tell you not to use that word, least of all when you're referring to me and you. Nothing could be further from the truth. Especially now. Unless…?"

He trailed off deliberately, and J.D sighed. Maybe the man had orchestrated this from the beginning after all.

"Is Mrs. Ruths having side effectsfrom her medication or is her illness simply developing?"

Not exactly smiling, but certainly with satisfaction, Dr. Cox grabbed his arm and hauled him down the corridor. J.D didn't want to know where they were going, and he only felt faintly relieved when the man pushed him into a lift and hit the button for the top floor without looking.

"You know the Janitor practically lives here, don't you?"

Dr. Cox ignored him. "So you want to know whether or not to continue treatment?"

When J.D nodded, Dr. Cox took his chin in his hands.

"So…what should I do?"

Dr. Cox rolled his eyes. "Have you _ever _kissed a woman, Newbie? Firstly, don't answer that; I don't have time to listen to a list of your conquests. My point is, don't do _anything _you did then. Don't…react. Actually, it helps a little if you try to push me away."

"Shouldn't be too difficult," J.D muttered and Dr. Cox's eyes gleamed.

"Careful, Hannah, or I might get offended."

Quite suddenly, Dr. Cox's lips were on his, and the doctor's body was pushing him up against the side of the lift. Half heartedly, he raised his hands to weakly push him away, and Dr. Cox almost broke his wrists, slamming his hands to his sides again.

And though J.D was trying very hard not to think of the other man's lips on his, he couldn't help noticing the kiss was longer than the others, and, well…_better_. When Dr. Cox finally pulled back, J.D was almost disappointed. _Almost_.

"Definitely, continue the medication," he said breathlessly, releasing J.D's wrists after a moment. "But treat her for the side effects too, for at least a week, and see what changes."

Numbly, he nodded as the lift chimed, and Dr. Cox got out and marched away purposefully. J.D waited until the doors slid shut to frantically whack the first floor button. It was the only way he could think of to release his sudden anger, and it worked admirably.


	3. III : Learning II

Compromise

**Length: Still not a one-shot. What's the MATTER with you? (Jordan)  
Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox  
Rating: M (smile…)  
Warnings: Slash, obviously. And see above.  
Set: Post 5th Season.  
A/N: Okay, so this one took me a little longer to get out, and you know why? It's…vaguely smutty, and well, I know, I should be able to write it since GOD KNOWS I read enough of the stuff (Jayne – _I never_ – does it count if it's _written_? – Lmfao! Good times!) but you know, that is quite different to writing it, and I'm still not up to the stage where I can write it without going red (for shame).  
A/N 2: Jayne, thank you so much for mentioning those characters. I had a complete block plot wise, because all of my "plot" consists of them making out, but I figured I should have SOME kind of sub…and well, this chapter's for you, in honor of a (hopefully) amusing Kelso/Ted/J.D/Cox scene & of course, the end SMUT!  
A/N 3: This was MEANT to be beta-d by she-who-reads-more-smut-than-me & helped me ever so much. However, she's taking AEONS and won't reply to me on MSN so I say SCREW HER (YES JAYNE! SCREW YOU! P) and I will probably reload it when she's beta-d. **

III: Learning (2)

Kelso scowled as he swept down the hall. Ted was trailing after him half-heartedly, and though it was always good to see the man looking pathetic, he _was _carrying a soda in his hand, something Kelso thought he had expressly forbidden.

He was just about to sweep into his beautiful, recently refurbished office and take particular satisfaction in slamming the door in Ted's face when a sound made him pause.

And though it had been years since Edith's sex-drive had been Prozac-free, he still recognized the noise of two people pashing.

"Hold it, Tim, we're going down here." He paused for a moment, wondering whether it mightn't be Carla and Turk. In which case, Ted had better go first. "Come on, we don't have all day. Let me correct that. _You _don't have all day. I certainly do."

"You're right sir," Ted answered desolately, flapping his hands idiotically. "I'm useless, I'm worthless, and what else am I going to be?"

"Shut up, Ted!"

"Right."

In the third floor supply closet, Dr. Cox was kissing J.D with a sinking heart.

Two weeks had passed since J.D had very slightly agreed to be a part of his little confidence-gain scheme, and the kicker of it was as soon as he (and J.D he suspected, though he still held a firm no reaction policy) started to properly _enjoy _it, Perry wasn't sure he needed it anymore – at least, not in the same way.

Something had changed, he could feel it. Maybe it was merely the fact that JD no longer even pretended to try to push him away anymore, or maybe it was realizing that he didn't even _want _the younger doctor to, self-esteem issued regardless.

Or maybe it was that even as he deepened the kiss, a small part of him wondered and worried about what this could be doing to J.D. That tiny part was terrified – absolutely terrified – that J.D might do something stupid and fall in love with him, which would end, inevitably, in the loss of that charmingly innocent smile, and that naivety Perry found himself liking so much.

All which complicated things somewhat.

J.D finally pulled away for air, staring at him with that now familiar blank expression he always adopted around his mentor now. It made Perry bloody angry, but he knew now was not the time to explode at the younger doctor.

"Are we done, Sandra?"

Maybe not the most tactful thing he could have said under the circumstances.

J.D started to splutter indignantly, and that was really too much, Dr. Cox kissed him again. When they finally broke away, he could see it was a struggle for the doctor to adopt the neutral look.

"What did you do that for?" He asked finally, breathlessly.

Perry decided to act as if he didn't know what he meant. "You can't be this dense, honestly. Why do you think, Lisa?"

"Someone's going to see us."

"We're in a _supply closet_, and unless some doctors posses the ability to see through walls that I haven't noticed yet, I think we'll be fine, Newbie."

J.D muttered something under his breath, and Dr. Cox flicked his ear. J.D winced. A minute later, he spoke up, voice only a little shaky, which somehow irritated the doctor no end.

"I…have work to do."

Fine, maybe Perry had gotten a little distracted; flicking J.D's ear had somehow lead to tracing his jaw line, and he couldn't help but be oddly fascinated by it.

"Do you really, Carly? In case it escaped your attention, I have work to do too. And I don't waste half my morning every day checking my hair in the mirror."

"Yes you do."

Dr. Cox frowned at him. He was disturbed to see a smirk on his face.

"And the only way _you _would know that was if _you _were in there too. Now _go_." It was weak and he knew it, but he was temporarily floored by J.D's uncustomary cheekiness. But maybe it would do him some good, keep him on his toes. After all, his godlike wit wasn't much good if nobody ever challenged it.

Perry recognized that thought as an egocentric one, and muted a curse as he watched J.D straighten his clothes as he left, realizing he wished he could comb his hands through that hair and pull him into a kiss again before he had to go.

Kelso turned the corridor and nearly bumped into someone else. One of the interns, he thought, Dorian something.

"Aha, good morning …intern."

"Actually, sir, I'm not an intern anymore."

Good god, but the man's hair was sticking up, just like in one of his son's gay erotica magazines. Another excellent reason he did not mix his personal and profession life.

He gave a vague nod in response, unable to stop staring at the hair, and moved away.

Trying and failing to appear nonchalant, he paused in front of the supply closet and peered in.

"Big Bob!"

Kelso growled at the mockery, about to slam the door shut when he realized he needed a reason to have opened it in the first place.

"Oh, hello there, Perry." He gestured unclearly. "I'm only looking for a…scalpel."

Ted poked him in the shoulder.

"What is it?" He hissed.

"We – uh – don't keep scalpels in the supply closet, sir. Not sterilized."

Kelso frowned, for a moment completely taken aback that Ted actually knew something worthwhile about medicine after working for so long in at Sacred Heart.

"Shut up, Ted!" He snapped finally, turning back to Dr. Cox, who had an eyebrow raised, and a gleeful expression on his face.

"I know it's been a while since you actually _did _anything around here, Bobbo, but all the same…"

Kelso would have told him to shut up, but he _did _hate to repeat himself. Instead he slammed the door, grabbed the soda can from Ted and, ignoring the man's weak protests, stormed away furiously.

Despite everything, Dr. Cox, for the first time ever, began to relatively enjoy himself at work. The pleasant alternation between the pure bliss of pushing someone against a wall and of calmly berating and advising both _his_ interns and _other_ people's interns – oh, and people who should know better by now but didn't – was actually becoming a soothing kind of ritual.

Especially compared with the trouble he was having at home with Jordan right now.

The woman – or demon – had returned from her two-day spa treatment and they had been arguing ever since. Worse, she was back at work too, obviously, which meant sometimes even the aforementioned daily rituals were punctured by her arrival and a vigorous re-launch of their most recent spat.

And despite common belief, Perry did not actually enjoy fighting with Jordan – at least, not when it was serious – as it made him think of Jack. And then of his _own_ childhood.

So he was already in a bad mood as he stormed away from aforesaid hellcat, and the scene he stumbled into, oddly, made him angrier.

"Bambi, why won't you tell me who she is if it's not Elliot?"

"Rumor say's your hitting Nurse Tisdale. Dude, hit _that_!"

Dr. Cox watched with clenched teeth as his protégé cringingly held out his hand for Tod to slap.

"I'm betting…she's a blond, this time." Carla leaned towards J.D mockingly. "A sexy, blonde bombshell. That's your type isn't it, J.D?"

"Baby, that's _every _man's type. You know what I'm saying? _Whazzup!_"

And now for the cavalry! The only thing that could possibly have raised Perry's blood temperature to boil had just emerged from the corridor to slap hands with Tod.

"Newbie!"

J.D looked around, and leapt about a foot in the air when he saw Perry striding towards him, face a thundercloud.

"Get over here. Mrs. Burns needs your help."

J.D went pale.

"Why didn't you page me?"

Dr. Cox glared as Carla leaned down to whisper in his protégé's ear: "You're in trouble, Bambi."

He was indeed.

Shoving him against the wall, Dr. Cox couldn't help but hiss: "_Blonde bombshell_?" in incredulous tones. J.D merely shook his head. His expression was oddly confused.

"Anyway, I thought "_she_" was old news." Two weeks did constitute as "old" for the rumor mill, didn't it? Perry would be damned if he knew.

"Nothing's 'old news' until Carla figures out all the details."

"Ahhh."

He ducked in to steal a kiss, but J.D jerked back. Dr. Cox, who had been, up till then, feeling a little calmer, already soothed by the other doctor's presence, bit back a snarl.

"So…there's nothing wrong with Mrs. Burns?" He asked in a small voice.

Dr. Cox barely managed to stop rolling his eyes. He felt relieved, and that made him feel even _more _irritated. Almost gingerly, he lowered his lips to J.D's, and kissed him properly for what must have been the first time – eyes closed, forehead creased, utter curiosity driving him. Oddly, he felt his anger abate slightly. With that realization, came an ever thicker relief. He had felt something change – just not the thing he'd been afraid of. He smiled against the other doctor's lips.

This turned out to be a mistake. Something about the kiss – so different from all the others (but just as therapeutic, Perry found) – broke J.D's control. Dr. Cox's eyes shot open when the other doctor fumbled him closer, his own eyes still tightly closed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Vanessa?"

He was genuinely confused, but before he could extricate himself from the grasp, the other man pulled him down by the neck and kissed him with a fierceness that frightened him.

"Don't do that!" He pulled away, suddenly furious, though unsure of why. "Don't _ever _do that, you hear me?"

J.D had seen his disgusted kind of anger, but never this; he quailed before it, momentary brashness receding to leave meekness and a softness of expression Dr. Cox found himself drinking in. He took another step forward, grabbing J.D by the hips to press him up against the wall again. For a moment he wondered how long this patient room would remain unoccupied, but as he glanced towards the door, he caught J.D's expression and pressed a rough kiss to his throat.

"Dr. Cox…"

Perry cut his shaky whisper off in an instant. It was all soothing enough to make him release J.D's wrists. Instantly, the younger doctor's arms came up to clutch onto his collar as Dr. Cox slipped his fingers under the waistline of J.D's scrub bottoms.

"Dr. Cox…" he tried one last time. Viciously, Dr. Cox cut him off again and slid his hands into J.D's boxers, eliciting a sharp intake of breath.

"What – what are you doing?"

Dr. Cox gave him an irritated glare, annoyed by the fact that J.D could still ask him that. The doctor's voice was tight with strain and breathless, but his eyes were oddly bright. Dr. Cox did not get enough time to read the sharpness of his expression because J.D's head dropped onto his shoulder as he gave a languorous squeeze. J.D's mouth must have been as tightly shut as his eyes, because he didn't make a sound other than harsh breathing. For some inane reason, this irritated Dr. Cox as well. He did not want J.D to be so in control. It wasn't fair. Not when he was so dependant on the man. He took control from J.D's lips when he felt that now familiar self-doubt and relief from his anger when he felt like smashing a lab room would be a good idea. Why was J.D so determined to take nothing from him in exchange? At least in that way he would no longer feel indebted to him. And he could tell the doctor was enjoying this, even if he could not bring himself to let J.D kiss him back. Because that would make it something else entirely.

A sharp gasp brought him back to the present, quite abruptly. J.D was leaning against him entirely now, wall forgotten, so still Dr. Cox was sure he was making a concerted effort not to buck against him.

Perry smirked as he quickened his strokes; JD's breathing in his ear getting very loud indeed. _Come on_, Dr. Cox found himself thinking. _Say something_. _Anything_. It made him realize his protégé was making a sound, a small, soft kind of whimpering in the back of his throat. His mouth was no longer clenched shut, but jerked open every time his hell fell back in time with the older doctor's strokes.

Dr. Cox turned his head ever so slightly, breath ghosting J.D's ear, squeezing again so that he would rest his forehead against Dr. Cox's lab-coated-ed shoulder.

"J.D," he said softly, and was surprised when he did not have to try making his voice husky. He didn't get any further though. J.D shuddered against him for a moment, soundless, before sagging, gasping heavily against his neck.

Dr. Cox stole a glance at his face and savored the expression on it, feeling warmth in his stomach. Not arousal. Warmth. All the same, he patted J.D's scrubs and boxers back in place and pushed J.D gently off him, if maybe a little quicker than he should have. Worried as he was about the suspicious tightness in his stomach, he almost stopped thinking entirely as his eyes traveled up J.D's disheveled figure, and he drank in the sight in front of him. It was enough to make him ignore his slight uneasiness at his response to what had happened. That could wait, at least.

Eyes glittering with the rush he was so used to getting now, Dr. Cox pressed a quick, smoky kiss to the hollow of the doctor's throat before leaving to wash his hands.

J.D watched him go with even brighter eyes, neck plastered against the wall with a thin sheen of sweat, fingers trembling as they retied his scrub bottoms.

He still had not said a word.

**A/N: Don't kill me if it's utter shite. I need more practice, after all, but I hope this is vaguely decent/not sickening. **

**Reviewers? Marry me. **

**tatsumaki : **Why sweetheart, thank you! I enjoy writing it, I assure you. Sorry for the long-ish late for this chapter, I will try to write more diligently! And I have to say…"for the love of all things cuddly…" makes me chuckle.

**Jessi Malfoy: **Thank you sweetie. The caps show remarkable enthusiasm. And I do what I can.

**Reigning Fyre: **Ahhh yes, the power of JD/Cox. Marvelous, really.

**witchintraining**: SWEETHEART! Dammit, but I've missed you! How _are _you? Shivery? Haha! The enjoyable kiss scenes, darling, nothing like it for a fanbase that I flatter myself I have. And agree. What is _with _the lack of Scrubs slash? Oh yes I went through my Tom/Harry faze, remember those fics? Yes, lol. Harry/Lucius…hmmm. Never seen, any good? And don't worry about Lost – it's gone shite, hasn't it? Such a damn shame – still love Charlie though (AND THAT DAMN PAIRING). Anyhoo I'll stop…thanks for reviewing as always.

**Spiny Norma: **Rape whistle half-god. Glad you like, darling. Thank you very much for the ego-boost (though quite frankly I think I'd prefer getting it from random pashing, but as my self-esteem is below 0, that's hardly going to happen is it?)

**Jayney-Wayney: **Cuuuuuute. And honest to god, I am _glad _you are not that forgetful. You are shamelessly forgetting half Scrubs, in my opinion. I actually walk around by myself quoting under my breath and chuckling. My mother thinks I'm insane. Anyhoo…reckon I should push the Jordan/Elliot to full blown? You know, sub plot it somewhat. And sorry for the uselessness of this chapter, and the lameness of Kelso & Ted. I hope you don't feel too embarrassed at having it dedicated to you…

**Generally Maz: **Sweetheart, I owe you about a century of reviews. You are unthinkably flattering, funny, faithful…ahgr, and the list goes on. And thanks for the idea. It's actually quite a gorgeous one…hmmmm….and I know I would certainly like a tape of what you termed as "this". Mmmhmmm….And in character? Seriously, hon? My god.

**Kari-demon: **This review? Yeah, it's gorgeous.


	4. IV: Rifts

Compromise

**Length: Still not a one-shot. What's the MATTER with you? (Jordan)  
Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox  
Rating: M (smile…)  
Warnings: Slash, obviously. And see above.  
Set: Post 5th Season.  
A/N: Okay, let me just say…._yay_! Yay yay yay! You guys liketh the smut? _AW_, you guys! (Yes, yes, am running on god knows how little hours of sleep so bear with me). But truly. That rocks. So much. Thaaaankyou. XD **

Songlist: _Sweet Escape, _Gwen Stefani (feat. Akon)

A/N 2: I don't usually listen to his kind of music. Truly. I really don't. But this song…is so…fucking…._hot_. XD

A/N 3: I suck more than words can explain. I really, really suck. And that's all I can say. I'm going to go self-flagellate in an attempt to earn your forgiveness. I'm very, very sorry. Truly. (yelping is heard in the distance)

A/N 4: The amount of reviews I have gotten…the sheer KINDNESS of these reviews…I promise, I swear, _it is not lost on me_. You guys are AMAZING. I am the sucky one. (headdesk)

A/N 5: I WILL UPDATE AGAIN. I know you guys have had...ahem...ample reason to doubt me this time round. But I PROMISE, I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS update. Even if it takes me a while - but hopefully never this long again - I will update. I _never _abandon a story. And that is one of those promisey things - one of those ones that you don't break, ya know? So...I'm very sorry. Truly. But I _will always update_, not only this story, _but any story I start_.

IV: Rifts

Idiotically, Dr. Cox found himself rather distracted for the rest of the week. J.D seemed to be constantly on his mind, but that was hardly surprising since the younger doctor seemed to be relentlessly attempting to catch him on his own. Dr. Cox suspected J.D wanted to 'talk', and avoided him with an alarming desperation.

"Now look here, Shirley. I know it's been a while since you've felt that de_light_ful tingle, but you seem to have forgotten all the rules of one night stands. You don't get to have lunch with me."

Shirley blinked dark lashes, prettily. "I'm a…one night stand?"

Nauseatingly enough, there was a speck of satisfaction in that voice. Why was the kid pleased with himself? Because Dr. Cox had classified him as something and filed him away? The thought made him irrationally angry. How _dare _J.D be _satisfied _with so little?

"Dr. Cox?" A stubborn look passed over J.D's face. "_Perry_, we are going to have lunch together."

"If you don't drop this, I'll page you every five seconds for the rest of the day," Dr. Cox warned in a low voice. J.D only shook his head, confused. He started to set down his tray.

"You go ahead and do that, and I swear to god, I won't be responsible for my actions."

J.D froze. Carefully, he backed away from the table. Dr. Cox felt his blood pressure creep higher at the wary expression on his face.

See, Dr. Cox wasn't threatening him with bodily harm, exactly. But even J.D must have realized by now that the outcome of his attempts to discuss anything non-medical with his "mentor" resulted in something quite different. The fact was that every time J.D approached him, he managed to set Perry's teeth on edge, and pinning J.D against the hospital wall seemed too good a comeback to miss.

_

* * *

It only took Elliot four days to finally catch him.  
Whilst Dr. Cox was frantically trying to avoid him, J.D was both trying to hunt down his mentor __and _avoid a relatively irritated Elliot Reid, and was having little luck with either of these ventures.It only took Elliot four days to finally catch him.Whilst Dr. Cox was frantically trying to avoid him, J.D was both trying to hunt down his mentor avoid a relatively irritated Elliot Reid, and was having little luck with either of these ventures. 

He needed to talk to Dr. Cox; to sit down and properly talk with the man about what the _hell _was going on. Not that he needed it described more eloquently – it was bad enough as it was – but J.D was not the kind of person who believed in 'no strings attached'. And when it came to Perry, it was impossible not to have strings attached. It had been ages since his relationship with Dr. Cox had 'no strings' – J.D had gotten attached to him disturbingly quickly. But the thing that was disturbing him the most – probably because in truth it wasn't disturbing him at all – was the fact that Dr. Cox was well…….a _man_. And as much as he insisted J.D was a girl, J.D was fairly sure that this was not the case.

So why didn't he feel more worried about this? Why wasn't this scaring the hell out of him? The thought of kissing Turk – even the one time he _had _kissed Turk had terrified him. But now, the fact that he had kissed a guy and enjoyed it didn't scare him in the slightest. However, the fact that that guy had been Dr. Cox _did._

Unfortunately, there were more pressing matters at the moment for J.D – such as the infuriated White Chick that was dragging him down the halls of the hospital. When she finally reached their destination – the selfsame cafeteria in which J.D had attempted to speak with Dr. Cox four days ago – she pushed him into a seat opposite her, expression furious. J.D cringed.

"_Why_," she began in an icy tone, "has Carla been asking me if we've made out recently?"

J.D choked.

Sitting in a corner of the room, head ducked furtively, was Dr. Cox. It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and J.D had no doubt he had somewhere he was meant to be, but his mentor seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Kelso would have his head for such laxity as he lazily consumed a belated lunch with evident satisfaction.

Ever since the incident where he had attempted to have lunch with the older doctor, J.D had been haunting the cafeteria as diligently as Dr. Cox had been avoiding it. He had even gone to the supermarket, where they had both had the misfortune of bumping into Jill Tracy, in the hopes of catching him there, but without success. Now, however, it became clear; Dr. Cox had been eating at ridiculous hours so as to avoid bumping into him. The severity of these measures was both infuriating and rather flattering.

It was only after five minutes of solid contemplation that J.D realized Elliot's expression had changed from livid to both shocked and curious.

She had followed his gaze.

"Why," she repeated, in a much lower, more careful voice, "has Carla been asking me if we've made out recently?" Then she actually had the audacity to smile, and look at Dr. Cox, sideways. "Maybe that's a stupid question."

"You can't honestly think –" J.D began to splutter, reddening. Elliot leaned forward on the table, evidently pleased with herself.

"Oh, but I do. And honestly," she added with raised eyebrows at J.D's stunned expression, "it's not that much of a surprise. The way you always wanted him to hug you was…"

"_Shut up_!"

"…weird." Elliot frowned at him. "Seriously, it was obvious. You two have been flirting for years."

At that, J.D could not help but spit out his drink. It took him a mere split second to realize she was right, and the thought made him nauseas. _Flirting _with Cox? But really, what _else _had they been doing? J.D being sarcastic…Dr. Cox calling him a girl's name…and touching him. Nothing as blatant as the 'touching' they'd been doing _lately_, but even before J.D had the slightest _inkling _of what might lie between them, Dr. Cox had found reasons to slap his hips, grab him by the shoulders – all whilst ranting sarcastically, of course. And then of course there was the way he would stand too close to him, sit too close to him, show up at his flat at 3 in the morning to drag him out to a pub –

Elliot interrupted his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

J.D considered, for one simple moment, lying. "Why is he doing this to me?" He whimpered after a moment. "This isn't _fair_."

"Ahh, life isn't fair!" Kelso loomed suddenly behind him. Elliot choked on her coffee, but Kelso casually ignored her spluttering of excuses. "But dear me. It seems I've been seeing a lot of you in the cafeteria these days, Doctor…."

"_Dorian_."

"Right. Well. I'm not paying you to eat all day, you know."

"But I've been looking for…" J.D paused, and Elliot gave him a look of sympathy. He tried not to scream in frustration.

"When I was young, these kinds of things weren't tolerated. You were up at the crack of dawn, hauling pails of water from the nearby well –"

"My god, _must _we listen to this, Bobbo?"

J.D's heart caught somewhat as he looked up. Dr. Cox casually slid his tray onto the table and looked away from J.D's gaze.

"Why, yes, Perry, you do. Because unless I'm much mistaken, the reason one of my employees has been so distracted lately is that he has been lurking in here looking for _you_."

Perry gave him A Look over Kelso's shoulder. J.D froze, horrified, barely able to speak. Thankfully, Elliot spoke instead, confusedly.

"Do you – do you spend all your time in the cafeteria, Dr. Kelso?"

"Me?" Kelso barked, affronted. "I have better things to do. But I ask Ted to keep tabs on whose wasting time in the cafeteria. But that isn't the point. The point is…" Kelso suddenly turned to Dr. Cox. "You've confused me, and I can't remember what it was."

He seized Elliot's arm, making her shriek a little. "Sweetheart, you'd better follow me. Ted's been behind on the paperwork since he started watching Doctor…Dorian."

"Fine," Elliot scowled. To J.D she added, "I want my rape whistle back!"

Dr. Cox smirked as he sat and leaned his elbows on the table.

"Rape whistle? _Trudy_."

"Why do you want to talk now?" J.D demanded stiffly. "You've been avoiding me for the past week."

"How observant of you." Cox paused, and the humor went out of his voice. "Yes, I've been avoiding you. Because I know what you want me to say, and I'm not going to say it. You're not going to get that hug you always wanted, and you're not going to get to have lunch with me unless you have one of those mental breakdowns you seem so fond of having. How can you still not get that?"

"Are you _insane_?" J.D whispered hoarsely. "You think I – you think I en – en_joy what's been happening_?"

"Actually, Newbie, I _know_ you do. And you can throw all the hissy fits you want, but it ain't going to change."

"Is this – is this about the way you call me girl's names? Because maybe you haven't noticed, _Perry_, but I'm _not _a girl."

"And that…bothers you why, exactly?"

J.D stared at him, a flood of indignant words stuck in his throat. Most ridiculous of all, he felt upset. It was absolutely ridiculous that after all this time, Dr. Cox could still get to him, and J.D hated himself for it.

"You know what? I don't _care_ if you're not my 'mentor'! I don't _need _you, Perry."

"Uh, yeah you do."

"No, I don't!"

"Like hell you don't, Newbie."

J.D had been at breaking point ever since Dr. Cox, three weeks ago, had seized him by the collar and shoved him against the wall of the corridor of Sacred Heart Hospital without warning. And suddenly, he snapped.

"_Don't call me that_!"

Dr. Cox was left sitting alone, expression belying his clenched fists under the table.

**A/N: Okay. Um. I'm sorry? I am. I'm two days on what I promised too. And I was about 3 months late when I promised _that _so….yes. I suck. And I am so, so sorry! But please. I do _not _abandon stories. Yes, I am lazy. And yes, I take a while to update. But I do update. I promise. And I will _try_ – honestly, I will _try _– to make the next update more prompt (and make it have more kissing. ( Sorry about this one, guys, but they needed the rift.) **

A/N 2: I confess…I am fond of the last line.

**Reviewers?** **Marry me. **

**tatsumaki** Hah, I'm glad you liked their break appearance. I should have them wondering around again, shouldn't I? And I was planning on having Keith slip in somewhere this chapter but…the utter lack of plot kind of makes that kind of thing difficult. Suggestions are UTTERLY WELCOME. And thankyou, as always, for your comment. & I hope the fact that most of it is J.D – viewpoint does not spoil it for you.

**Jessi** **Malfoy: **Ahah! I'm sorry for the lack of smut in this chapter. It _is _kind of necessary though…you know, angst before fluff and smut-riddled PWPness…I'm _so _glad you thought the smut was hot. XD

**Elfanger89: **Lol. How eloquently put. XD Glad I could oblige.

**Char: **Thankyou very much. I'm sorry this took so long. And no…I don't need begging…….but I do like it. XD

**Lady of Infinity: **Thankyou very much! Heheh nothing like J.D/Cox, truly.

**Lee: **There are…nicer ways to put that my dear. But I get the message. And the rest is here. It has been in _fermentation_. Sorry it took so long to ripen.

**CheeseFaerieXXL: **I don't feel guilty. X Or that's what I keep trying to tell myself…I'm so sorry. But as I said below – no matter how long it takes me, I _will _update.

**PurplePebble: **I can't blame you for thinking that…but I will update. Always, always, I promise. And I'm very sorry. And I feel very shamed. Truly.

**xredneckchiickx: **I LOVE it when someone who doesn't like slash likes one of my slash stories. So thankyou very much for that.

**Rani** **Summers: **Thankyou so much my dear! Hah, I'm not a goddess – I _wish_. But I'm really glad you like it so much, really. That's extremely sweet of you. And I'm sorry for the wait. Merry Christmas to you too! And I'm sorry for the lack of fluff/shoving against walls in this chapter. I'm terrified everyone will kinda hate it, actually. XD

**Mystery Reviewer: **Superbly is indeed a word! And ha…I'm glad to have that kind of effect. XD I agree, J.D/Cox is…uhm…hot, much? XD And that's amusing, because if there's one thing I believe I suck at, it's humor. So thankyou for that. XD

**Nigiri** **Ashika: **Clever. AAHAHAHAHA. No but, what I really mean to say is thankyou for reading, and liking, and reviewing. Just excuse me whilst I stifle laughter. Clever. Hah. XD

**snow887: **Sweet & succinct review, thankyou very much. To the point. XD I'm glad you like.

**danglars: **Thankyou so much for your longish review! It's very sweet of you. And no, I actually don't have/use betas. I'm very pedantic, and fussy about spelling, and utterly overly-critical of others on that, so I have to kind of watch it, too. I'm glad you like my take on J.D's reaction to this. As the whole J.D/Elliot thing pointed out (all the way through – or perhaps especially – in Season 4), J.D isn't superb at distinguishing one feeling from the other, and what he feels for Dr. Cox is, at least to begin with, this frantic adoration/admiration, and such a feeling is horribly, terribly, breathtakingly close to love and obsession. I guess I'm kind of writing to that.

**Mysticlynx: **Thankyou very much. XD It actually kind of bugs me that I can't write anything romantic without making it messed up/psychological. But in another way I like it, so that works. And yeah – sorry that this took so long. And thankyou for your well-wishes! They did go very surprisingly well indeed. XD

**Yaoi** **Angel: **Thankyou very much. XD Sorry for the wait.

**psychotic** **KAT: **I love your username, by the way. Thanks for the review – yes, smut is VERY fun. XD

**Onigokko: **Aha, I love that feeling, when you find a fic you really were in the mood for? Glad I could help out. Thanks very much.

**koryuu: **I'm glad you like! Mind if I ask what others you've read?

**HarleyD: **I'm glad you like it. I wish I knew more people in The Real World who liked fanfic, 'cause every reviewer of mine seems so _fucking cool_. Dammit. XD

**Angelkittiee: **Thankyou, I'm glad you like it so much. XD And if the whole 'marry me' thing wasn't obvious enough – I love all my reviewers. Madly truly deeply. XD

**CruelMistress: **I'm glad you approve, and I will DEFIANTELY write me a Jordan/Elliot in here too. They are so… perfect together, as are J.D/Cox. Thanks for the review.

**Shi-Sha Hariken: **Thanks very much. J.D/Cox is the Best Scrubs Pairing Ever. XD

**BlackGoblin: **I officially adore your username. Please and thankyou to you too for your review!

**MoveThoseHips: **I'm doing my best! No…wait…that's a lie. Dammit. But you know. My parents yell at me for never leaving my room, for writing fanfic too much, going on the computer too much…so I've been trying this new thing…Living…I don't much like it yet, but I'm giving it another go…I'm sorry, it's 1 am and I'm tipsy so don't mind anything I say. Thankyou for the review, really, most sweet of you.

**Ionai: **Hah, I'm really glad you like it! And yes…bizarre, as The King of Gay Chickens would say – bizarre works for me.

**shikongewl: **Oh, don't get me started on Meaningless Lives. XD Glad you like!

**Vobi: **Uh…well, that's good that I'm not guilty of the One Shot thing. (cough is totally lying cough). Oh well – what matters is that you like this! Thank you very much!

**E: **Scrubs is absolutely brilliant. As are the writers. Love them madly. And the actors. And the fandom…ahhhh…the fandom. XD

**Ezra: **You've never found J.D/Cox before? Ahh! I was practically choking with the obviousness of the UST between them even in the first season. XD

**Squrlie** **Jack: **Thanks for you review. XD

**The Providence Crow: **….done. XD

**Roen: **I really don't think my characterization is what it should be…but thank you so very much. Gawd! I love all my reviewers! They are so infernally SWEET.

**fflurker: **Hah, yes. I tried to make it hot. XD

**CountToEight: **I love – LOVE – your username. And I'm to gather that 'Oh GOD' is a good thing, right? XD Thankyou darling.

**Moose: **I'm glad you like it, and think it's IC. Yes, Cox is our favorite bastard, J.D is our favorite victim…it just works out perfectly, don't you think?

**Likeable Tarsier: **Haha. I love your sense of humor. I think everyone who watches Scrubs has a kickass sense of humor, or something. But um. Yes, thankyou for the review. Very much.

**Evil-at-the-moment: **I'm glad you like it. XD

**lies-d: **Confusedly-ravished! J.D. Oh, my love. He is indeed….mmmmm. So pretty. XD

**zeeharan: **A script for the show? IF ONLY MY DEAR. IF ONLY. (A) that this was remotely that good, B) that I was actually a script writer for the show C) that they actually slashed Dr. Cox/J.D in the show…aside from those puny but HOT hints, I mean. XD) And by the way, I leer right back at you. XD And I'm SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT. Dammit, you guys make me feel GUILTY. And sorry for the lack of SMUT too. I will update SOON next time, with drastic MAKEUP SEX or something. XD I'm SO sorry. And I **grovel **for your forgiveness.

**witchintraining**: Your reviews are always so long and adorable. I hope you won't be disappointed by this pathetic chapter! Personally, I like Chapter Two the best…it's certainly the only one I didn't have a _lot _of trouble with, so maybe that's why? XD. But well, what else? Apparently Season 3 Lost is SEVERELY kick-ass, though I haven't seen it yet. Have you? And well – thank you for mentioning Jordan. At least now I have a _couple _of ideas for the next chapter. XD Will HOPEFULLY be quicker than this one. And yes…ear-flicking. What a turn on. XD Mwah, belated Merry Christmas! & feel free to poke me in the direction of some good Harry/Lucius.

**Spiny Norma: **Dankeshon extremely much. As you can see, I enjoy writing Kelso, so I decided I'd slip him in here for a bit.

**ArtyFarty: **…that is just a reminder of how very long ago it has been since I updated this. Shit.

**Generally Maz: **Thank you very very much! Tod? I need to write him in too. Next chapter, I promise! Smut dance? You'll have to teach me that one…XD


	5. V: Catching On

Compromise

**Length: Still not a one-shot. What's the MATTER with you? (Jordan)  
Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox  
Rating: M (smile…)  
Warnings: Slash, obviously. And see above.  
Set: Post 5th Season.  
A/N: Okay, I still suck, but less so this time. Hopefully the length will kind of make up for some of the wait, too. Fingers crossed? Oh, and the fact that I'm staying up past 2 am to write this for you guys, even though I have school tomorrow/today? Yeah. That's how bad I love you guys. **

Songlist: _Collide_, Howie Day

A/N 2: And just in case you didn't get that – I LOVE YOU GUYS! You are the best reviewers, I swear, you are _so _sweet, and so _constructive_, and you all give me something to think about in terms of the next chapters, and yeah. You're all amazing, seriously. I really appreciate it.

Dedication: M'kay, this is another testimony to my laziness. Until I finish that Axel/Roxas I'm writing for my baby, this is for her. To sort of, um, buy me a bit more time. Yes, I am a horrible person. But happy belated Valentine's day, Lauren. Thinking of you, as always.

V: Catching On

J.D closed his eyes briefly, leaning against the railing of the little walkway outside the hospital, trying to gather his courage.

"Bambi!" Carla stuck her head out of the door. "Get in here, Dr. Cox is looking for you."

It was Monday morning, and J.D had just arrived at Sacred Heart. Turk, who had gotten a ride with him that morning, had rolled his eyes when J.D had refused to enter.

"What's got you all worked up, buddy? I thought Elliot was off your case."

Much as J.D had longed to say that Elliot wasn't the problem, he'd held his tongue. He knew better than to invite more questions from Turk – even if it wasn't the surgeon who was so much the problem, but Carla.

"Bambi!" The nurse in question dragged him back to the present, kicking and screaming.

"Yeah, yeah," J.D muttered, following her into the hospital. Once inside, he paused and glanced around. There was no Dr. Cox in sight.

"Bambi!" Carla insisted. "What's the matter with you today?"

Sheepishly, J.D ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry; I'm just so…distracted."

"Something happen with that girl you're seeing?" Carla asked nonchalently.

"For the last time, there is no girl!"

And there certainly wasn't. Raising his eyes, J.D cringed at the sight of Dr. Cox absently bent over a clipboard in the patient's room Carla had led him to.

"Please don't make me go in there," he pleaded. Carla rolled her eyes at him.

"Bambi, he asked for you especially."

J.D tried to ignore the implications of that as he shoved the door open with his elbow. Dr Cox gave him an angry look as he entered.

"Susannah! Gee, I'm so happy you could make it." He proffered the clipboard to J.D, snatching it back as soon as the younger doctor dared reach for it. "Uh! I don't think so Trinny. You gotta earn it."

J.D barked a laugh; it was more forced than usual. "Trinny and Susannah. I get it."

"Since you're laughing, I'm going to go ahead and assume that you _don't _get it. Listen up, Newbie. I don't care if you've broken a nail, or if your hair wouldn't sit _quite right _when you were molding it into that bush you call style, but you make damn sure you get here on time, are we clear?"

Mutely, J.D nodded, extending a steady hand for the clipboard which Dr. Cox finally relinquished, eyes barely slits. A thousand furious questions forced their way into his throat, but he kept his lips clenched tightly together, refusing to voice them. After a moment, Dr. Cox looked away from him, at the patient. Reluctantly, J.D followed his gaze.

"This is Ms. Markson. She's been experiencing some severe chest pain lately."

J.D found himself relaxing. This, he could do. This was his _job_.

It was hard not to notice Dr. Cox's look of disgust as he handed over the chart and left, but he managed it.

_

* * *

_Scowling, Dr. Cox slammed paperwork onto the counter. Carla glanced up, and quickly glanced back down again at the expression on his face. Mutely, she took the papers and began sorting them, and Dr. Cox turned away so that she wouldn't keep stealing glances at his expression. 

Where had his self control gone? Briefly, his treacherous mind suggested various tricks that might _just _result in J.D forgiving him. Growling, he forced such thoughts aside. He'd done nothing that needed forgiving. And if Cassandra couldn't admit that maybe the lines between them had been blurred far before Perry had decided to act on it, than that wasn't his problem.

"Dr…Dr Cox?" Elliot was standing in front of him, an abnormally uncertain expression on her face. Usually she just looked panicky.

"Barbie, there is nothing I could care less about right now than whatever you're about to say. 'Cause the only advice I got right now is to go ask somebody else for advice." Not as eloquent as usual, perhaps, but the only thing he could think of was getting to Franklin's lab and smashing every single piece of equipment in the room.

"But – Dr Cox – I was in the cafeteria with J.D –"

"My god, what on earth do I have to _do _to make it abundantly clear that _I don't care_? I don't care if your lipstick is the wrong shade of red, or if your lapdog of an intern is getting picked on. I don't even care if you can't believe it's not butter. Every day I have to put up with you coming running to me whining about the fact that _you _can't make a simple medical decision without me holding your hand." He shook his head, flinging up his hands. "Even that, I can handle, but when you start whining about your personal life to me…honest to god, I can't even predict what I'm going to do next."

"Dr Cox, _I know_!" The end part was delivered in a dramatic whisper, her head jutted forward to look at him appealingly. There was no mistaking her meaning.

Dr. Cox froze.

What could he possibly answer that would sound innocuous? Besides, she clearly wasn't looking for confirmation; she had that already, he could tell from the look on her face.

"Blondie, don't push me with this." He knew he sounded both angry and desperate, which only made him angrier. "Don't interfere."

She had the gall to look petulant.

"I'm only trying to help," she began. "But since you're too much of a scary-creepy-guy to accept that, I'll just deliver a f – friendly warning. If you hurt J.D, I'll set Carla on you."

"Mmm," Perry commented after a moment. "Nice to know you're still fighting your own battles, Barbie. Anyway, it was _lovely _to catch up and all – but we are re-heally _not _having this conversation."

As he walked away, leaving Elliot to wring her hands, Perry felt harshly determined. There was no way in hell he was going to let J.D take the coward's way out and act like nothing had ever happened. No way in hell.

_

* * *

_Elliot fidgeted, staring at the back of Dr. Cox's lab coat – he was actually wearing it today, for some reason – as he left. The stupid part of it was she had to resist the urge to call out after him, to get him to stop. Call out something like, 

"J.D's in love with you!"

Elliot punched the palm of her hand when Dr. Cox didn't falter or turn around. Had he even heard her? He looked completely wrapped up in his own thoughts, which was fairly unusual. Most of the time, J.D was the one wandering around Sacred Heart in a dreamlike state. She snickered slightly.

"Hold on a second there, princess."

Elliot paused, expression of horror passing fleetingly across her face. Rigidly, she turned to stare at Jordan, who was regarding her, hands on hips.

Where on earth had the woman sprung from? As Elliot stared at her in dismay, she smirked and leant against the handle of room 208. The smug look on her face was enough to make Elliot quail – when Jordan was happy; it was never good news.

"Are you playing matchmaker with _my _Perry?" Her voice was more teasing than usual, devoid of the customary impatience. "Trying to hook him up with his favorite boy toy, are you?"

Elliot blushed, nervously blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "I didn't…"

"I have one little problem with what I'm sure is going to turn out to be _flawless _plan. Say Perry does somehow grow a spine and admit to himself what _every _woman who's ever slept with him has known for years – what about me?"

Elliot's eyes widened. "What – what did you say?"

Jordan took a slow step forward, no doubt thinking she was being alluring. Elliot froze. _Oh, my god_, she thought frantically. _She knows! She knows I don't have my rape whistle on me!_

"What."

Elliot whimpered as she gradually backed away.

"About."

Elliot was forced to consider fleeing. But even as her brain supported the idea, she was motionless to act on it; caught in the headlights as Jordan moved closer.

"Me."

* * *

"You paged me?" 

Dr. Cox watched impatiently as J.D inched into the room, expression guarded.

"What is it?" J.D asked a moment later, reluctantly. Now that J.D was within arm's reach, Dr. Cox didn't hesitate to answer him – moving forwards swiftly to push the door closed and push J.D up against it. Wordlessly, he thanked God for the closed blinds as he cupped his protégé's face.

"Get off me!"

J.D shoved him away, surprising the other doctor by his display of strength. He stood staring at Perry angrily, arms crossed over his chest defensively. There was something utterly unbearable in his face: hurt.

Dr. Cox found himself choking down a snarl. What the hell did J.D expect? Just because the kid had glorified him, didn't mean it was true. And Perry had never pretended to be honorable; he'd never pretended to be a nice guy. So what the hell was going on here?

And it now looked like he'd burnt this bridge as well, just as he always did.

_

* * *

_The Janitor let his head loll onto the wall, body supported by his mop as he stared at his reflection in the water on the floor. God, this job was boring. There was, after all, only one perk… 

A vaguely familiar doctor stormed down the hallway, hands clenched into convulsive fists by his sides. In his inebriated state, the Janitor was unable to recognize him.

"Floor's wet," he announced mournfully instead.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," the figure snarled, aiming a kick at the bucket of soapy water.

_I should know this guy_, the Janitor thought as he righted the bucket and dismally trailed the mop head in the resulting puddle. It stubbornly refused to soak up any water – perhaps he _should _have accepted that mop The Enemy had offered him – so he merely pushed the water around on the surface, back and forth.

Sadly, this particular hallway seemed to be frequented a normal amount, so he was unable to abandon the task and escape to his lair. Thankfully, the next person to charge down the hallway was someone he was not unhappy to see.

"Blonde Doctor," he chuckled to himself, unconsciously moving away from the wall and stranding straighter.

"Floor's wet!" He warned proudly, and was disappointed when Elliot only gave him a tight strained smile. Her mouth was strangely swollen, eyes bright; she looked like a stray wire on a faulty circuit board – and the Janitor should know after all, since he spent so much of his time in the wall staring at electrical wiring.

Thankfully, before he could process just how much worse this made him feel, someone else came charging down the corridor. Someone who was going to put a smile on his face.

He stood silently as J.D came closer, only to laugh when the doctor slipped.

"Floor's wet," he announced belatedly, still grinning as he whacked The Enemy's on the head with the damp mop.

His mirth faded, however, when his victim refused to stir. Reluctantly, the Janitor poked him with his foot. "Umm…"

_

* * *

_J.D cringed as light filtered in past his eyelids. A man was leaning over him; as his features sharpened, he was recognizable as Dr. Cox. 

"Barbara?"

Feeling very bitter, J.D tried to slowly sit up. _Would it have killed you to use my real name? _He didn't voice the thought.

"Yeah. I'm okay." He tried to pull away, automatically, as Dr. Cox parted his hair to prod something cottony and wet – presumably a bandage – but the man wouldn't let him.

"Actually, what you are is bleeding, Newbie." Dr. Cox paused, and J.D became dimly away he was sitting on an examination table, held upright by the older doctor's arm around his shoulders. "Lie down."

J.D thought about it. "No."

Dr. Cox growled, eyes narrowed. "You were just knocked unconscious, and are now sporting a moderately impressive head wound. Now I couldn't care less if you're finding this uncomfortable, Lucy – lie the hell down."

Reluctantly, he complied, more won over by common sense than Dr. Cox's wheedling. Or so he told himself, staring unblinkingly at his mentor as he shined a torch in his eyes.

"Well, you seem to be fine, but your breathing sounds a little shallow. Take off your shirt."

Surely, this was a joke? Or another contrived attempt to use him again, like that fake page earlier? Of course, there was no telling Dr. Cox the reason _why _his breathing was unsteady.

As J.D hesitated, Dr. Cox lost his patience. Ignoring J.D's fruitless attempts to bat him off, he yanked up the hem of his protégé's shirt, tugging doggedly upwards until J.D finally cooperated. Divested of his scrub-top, J.D looked a little nervous, but reluctantly eased back down onto the table as Dr. Cox unwound his stethoscope.

"Oh for god's sake, stop looking so frightened." Perry snapped, pressing the chestpiece against his skin. "And breathe, you girl."

The chestpiece was cold. Dr. Cox stood silently for a moment, brow furrowed with concentration, before moving it upwards, closer to his heart. Despite what Dr. Cox had just ordered, J.D found himself holding his breath, as the man quickly removed the stethoscope from his ears and prodded him under the ribs.

"Hurt?" Dr. Cox queried roughly. J.D blinked up at him accusingly.

"Of course it hurts; you're trying to break my ribcage."

"Shut up, Gretel."

They lapsed into silence. Sometime during it, Dr. Cox stopped trying to break his ribcage, and J.D stopped cringing away. The prods somehow turned into strokes, and J.D abandoned himself to the sensations. Every thought in his mind had come to a halt; he didn't even question it when Dr. Cox leaned down and kissed his skin, unabashedly. The doctor yanked at the waistline of J.D's trousers to run a thumb over a jutting hipbone, then brush it with his lips. J.D sat up to capture Perry's mouth in a kiss.

Dr. Cox fumbled him closer, a strange light in his eyes. The kiss had somehow smashed through every reservation, nullified every protest. It left J.D with shaking hands and a bruised mouth and the certainty of wanting more.

"There," Dr Cox muttered softly against his neck, breaking the silence. "There."

He sounded satisfied, but in a less hedonistic way than usual. J.D felt dizzied by the slight hint of pride the doctor's voice as he went on, "Took you long enough though, didn't it, Mariss – J.D?"

J.D felt stunned, sleepy, slow. "Call me that again," he requested suddenly, almost slurring the words.

Perry raised an eyebrow. "Make me," he suggested.

At that moment, two things struck him, simultaneously. The first one was that Dr. Cox had just invited him to do quasi anything to him. The second thing was that Dr. Cox, for some reason, was still wearing a shirt.

J.D wasted no time rectifying the situation. Shifting quickly so that he was kneeling on the table, he pulled at the collar of Dr. Cox's top, pressing his lips to the man's neck simultaneously. Perry made a small sound in the back of his throat and pushed J.D away to slip out of his shirt. As he threw it aside, he noticed that the younger doctor had stiffened, a look of embarrassment briefly crossing his face. Dammit, but he really needed coaxing.

"J.D," Dr. Cox began, and then paused when the other man's breath hitched. "J.D," he said again, experimentally, and was pleasantly surprised when J.D grabbed his neck and kissed him. For some reason, he didn't mind. For some reason, it was actually a turn on to watch _J.D_ being in control.

J.D fumbled with his belt, shaking, and Dr. Cox stared at him briefly, looking positively beatific. "Ah," he said finally, in a low voice, making J.D look up. "You're catching on."

**

* * *

A/N: If there are any errors, it's because of the late hour. XD So please do let me know in a review and I'll change and reupload it. Hope you don't mind my conning you guys out of smut. Maybe next chapter? Hope you liked, anyhoo. Much love you to. **

A/N 2: Again – fond of the last line. I copied it down from the poster on the door of my English classroom – motivational sayings to repeat to yourself over and over if you are thus inclined. "You're catching on."…I liked it, for some reason. It seemed to insinuate a lot more than it said. So I wrote it down, and have been known to look at it when I'm feeling pathetic. XD

**Reviewers?** **Marry me (4000 times over).**

**tatsumaki** Hah! Yes, real life equals total hassle! Blasted thing! Wish I could dream for ever and ever…or dream professionally…J.D would also be good at that. ANYHOO. Danke for the review, darkling! You rock so very much. Here we have…shock horror…a bit of Elliot!Viewpoint! which I suspect I did not completely pull of, but meh. And heh, I love the way you said "tries" to stand up for himself. Yeah, that's pretty much J.D, all over. XDD

**Char: **Hm. I'm glad you liked that line, I liked it too. Doesn't that strike you about J.D, though? When it comes to Cox – he's so willing to be satisfied by so _little_, like the occasional "J.D" and "good job". Occasional, who 'my kidding? Like, once in a blue moon, more like. Anyhoo. Thanks as always for your review. Hope you liked this.

**Lady of Infinity: **Thanks again. XD Will try to stop being so lazy in future!

**Lee: **Thanks. M'glad you like it.

**PurplePebble: **Hey 'gain! Thanks for the review, and for reading and you know, actually liking this…And believe me, I'm not usually so swell on keeping promises…but I do try, for what it's worth!

**xredneckchiickx: **Heh, thanks for being so indulgent. Time really does run away with us fic-writers, doesn't it? Good luck to you on yours! Thanks again for your review.

**psychotic** **KAT: **Hah, thank you, sweetheart. Yes…I'll try and work on that. Again – I fervently wish I had someone to shove up against a wall. It would help with the whole self-esteem thing, I'm thinking. But meh.

**Onigokko: **Tsssh, like I have any idea where this goes. None of us do! I'm just as curious! XD

**Ezra: **I'm also on LJ, but I never update there (since I'm shameful and all that jazz). M'glad you like it, really. Thanks so much.

**Evil-at-the-moment: **I confess I have to decline the hamster. I fear I would neglect the poor creature from lack of time. XD But thanks all the same. Here's an update for you! XD

**ArtyFarty: **Ah! Yes! I did see that episode! Poor Carla! And by the by, what is with all the Alcholic!J.D! fics rampant all of a sudden? This isn't canon, is it?

**Generally Maz: **Ahrg, I know. I forgot to write some Tod action…again. Aw, well. I guess when he fits, he fits, and he'll just slip in. For the moment though – no Tod. Sorry, honja. And thanks again.

**Insane Immortal Dragon Goddess: **Ahhh…my fix is just like, oh my god, wait. I have so many fixes. However they're all strictly NC-17 and…and now I'm shutting up. XD But um. Hope this satisfies, dear. Thanks for the charming review!

**the** **pills go in your mouth: **Is that a Scrubs quote, or am I hallucinating? Thanks for the review!

**Senorita Slash: **Naw, apologize? As you can see from this chapter – he always manages to side step it. However – he is offering J.D a less one-sided relationship now, and that's enough to make J.D forgive him. In my little world, anyway. XD And yeah, I feel sorry for Cox too. I can understand the guy. Thanks for the review, sorry about the lack of manswex. XD Working on that one…

**Katia** **Elensar: **I would do more than snap, I'd punch him. I'd punch him, and THEN go mental. But uhm. Thankyou, glad you like it.

**Babog: **I don't know if this qualifies as worthwhile, and I really hope the 'explanation' came through well enough – it should do, because the dynamic between them here is hopelessly different from the dynamic between them in earlier chapters. This is as much as I can ever see Cox "apologizing", and as you can see, instead of berating J.D for kissing him, he seems rather…enchanted by it. XD So hopefully that comes through? Thanks for liking and reviewing, by the by! XD

**iluvthecheat: **I will do my best to deliver. As I mentioned…me writing smut is a work in progress. I really don't want to screw up anatomy, here. XD

**Debbie-kit: **Thanks so much, darling! So glad you like it! As always when I'm writing "unorthodox" pairings, the reassurance that it's IC is really nice. XD Thanks again – and yeah, the Scrubs fandom can be worthwhile to check out, there are some really excellent authors (like Gabrielle M, if you're looking for more slashy stuff) lurking around here.

**Shi-Sha Hariken: **More Elliot in this chapter, as you can see. Glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing.

**Rose: **Thank _you _for reading, and taking the time to review. Really. Much love to you from this author!

**Black Goblin: **Well, hopefully this one doesn't feel too rushed, since I took my time with it again! Thanks for your support, hope you keep enjoying it. XD

**skat8erchick1435: **Heh. Glad you like it. Thanks for the review. XD

**Olivia Wood: **Ah! See, reviews like these sort of scare me. I sit there going, "Oh god, what if this chapters not good?" Then I sit there going, "Are they mad? Can't they see that this is a pathetic, poorly written excuse for a fic?" And then I conclude: "Well, I dunno. Apparently they like it. But what if they stop liking it???" And then I panic. XD So, hoping not to disappoint, and thanks so VERY much for your VERY sweet and VERY untrue remarks! Much love to you!

**Ang: **Thank _you _for reading. Really. I'd have written this anyway, since I don't seem to be able to help it, but you guys make it worthwhile. Truly.

**twilite: **Ever so glad you think so.

**Hyper Pearl Girl: **Thanks. XD

**Marie Terensky: **Not at all. I'll just assume it's a good thing though, and say thanks, 'kay? XD

**Evil Windstar: **Love the username. Used to own a Windstar…ANYHOO. Thankyou.

**Goldbryn** **Callow Lyte: **I'll eat the cookies…but if I get fat, I'll know who to blame…thanks, darkling. XD

**Absolute Obscurity: **Not quite, but thank you, love. My "work"? AHAh. You mean my, "I don't feel like sleeping so I'm staying up writing this fic at 3 am" work. XD Much love to you.

**eccarter: **Thanks. XD

**Sanzoeclipsekuramaarehot: **Oh my god, what a username! But yes. Thankyou, I'm really glad you like it. XD Much love to you too!

**Jess: **…Saving the best for last. What an amazingly, amazingly lovely review. Thank you so much for all your compliments (made all the more significant by being delivered in a literate fashion XD). And ah, you caught me out, slipping Scrubs elements in there in a frantic attempt to make it more…well, I wouldn't call Scrubs "realistic", so I'll borrow your word and say "believable". Mmm, I love Dr. Cox too. Such a brilliantly quick witted character. Writing him is such fun. So yes, thank you, thank you, thank you, and since it's 3 am I am now tottering off to bed. But thanks so much for really making my day. Much love to you.


	6. VI: Wordplay

Compromise

**Length: Still not a one-shot. What's the MATTER with you? (Jordan)  
Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox  
Rating: M (smile…)  
Set: Post 5th Season.  
Songlist: _Big and Small_, Sui Zhen (myspace this girl, she is fabulous!)  
_ Fairytale, _Sara Bareilles **

A/N: Okay. Okay. So I suck. I get it. I do. I just, uhrg. Okay. Shutting up now. Sorry.

A/N 2: The fact that I have – holy shit – 134 reviews, for 5 measly unworthy crappy chapters…my dears. My dears, you are all so amazing.

**A/N 3: Oh, dammit to Hades. J.D, obviously enough, is not wearing a belt, as he is wearing scrub-bottoms. Damn mistakes. Damn them! Well, let's just ignore this fact for the convenience of continuation, yes? **

**A/N 4: Okay…fangirlish & gratuitous inclusion of Dr Miller (portrayed by the _marvelous _Bellamy Young, who, in my honest opinion, delivered, in the few episodes she was actually in, one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen and utterly won me over to her underrated and _extremely attractive _side). No Todd yet, I'm sorry. He just never works out. **

**A/N 5: I am missing out on watching _Hard Candy _for this. I hope you're all happy. (Kidding, of course. You guys get priority, especially when I've been being so lazy about this. Plus, it's actually flowing now, which happens like, once every 3 months, hence why it takes me so much time. /excuses) /guilt trip But I do so want to see _Hard Candy_. It sounds so marvelously convolutedly fucked up. D **

**A/N 6: Okay, I saw _Hard Candy_. Not as fucked up as I'd hoped (but still way, way fucked up). Oh, and excuse the _Dr Wineburg_. I was having fun. It happens, occasionally.**

**Warnings: Slash. Wanton overuse of the word "protégé" and "other doctor". Potentially wildly out of character. Smuttish. (Equals, no mansmex, just…men…touching. Because that seems to be all I can write. I know, I'm dumb.)**

**Dedication: "Though it may be the head injury" person, Nigiri Ashika. Thanks so much for such a gorgeous, and Cox-ish line! **

VI: Wordplay

Elliot leaned her forehead against the mirror, breathing deeply.

_Oh my god. Why is this happening to me? On top of all my other mental problems – I now have _Jordan _to worry about too. How am I supposed to tell my therapist about _this_? I can't tell Dr Wineburg about this!_

"Come on, princess. Don't get all histrionic on me."

Her head came up sharply; not with surprise, but with determination. Jordan's hands rested possessively on her hips as Elliot struggled to meet her eyes in the mirror.

"Histri-whatic?"

"You're a doctor, sweetie. Don't you think you should know what that means?"

_This is Jordan's idea of gentleness?_ Elliot thought briefly, incredulously. _Oh, my god. I have to get out of this_. And she _did_ have to – she knew it. She did. Only, it was difficult to concentrate, with Jodan's fingers slipping under the hem of her scrub shirt.

"_Not here_," she tried quietly, slapping at Jordan's hand, which didn't move – at least, not _away_. "Jordan, there's something you should know!" Abruptly, Elliot stopped speaking.

_If I tell her, she might kill J.D. Heartless shrew. Heartless shrew with her hand stuck up my shirt. _

"Unless you're about to tell me that you have three breasts, I think it can wait."

_God, how can she make _that _line sound sexy? No! No! Do not equate Jordan with sexy!_

"But –" Elliot stopped suddenly with a squeak; Jordan's hand had moved higher – and the door to the bathroom had swung open.

"Huh. Dr Reid." Possibly the last person she wanted to see stepped into the room, eyebrow quirked. Dr. Miller pushed past them serenely without sparing a single glance for Jordan. She spoke to the mirror, companionably, as she inspected her makeup. "You know, next time you want to ask me out, just go ahead and ask, don't feed me some reel about your-friend-the-surgeon who needs your help proving he's not a chauvinist. Okay?"

She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, gave the mirror a quick, condescending smile, and then turned and left.

"Oh, god." Elliot squeezed her eyes shut, briefly. "Okay, that is going pretty high on my list of _totally _embarrassing moments – and believe me, there are a lot of them! When did plumbers stop knocking before walking through the front door, anyway?" She paused, frowning. "Which…is even _weirder _because we didn't even _have _a plumbing problem…"

Reluctantly, the sentence trailed off, and Elliot was forced to face a very uncomfortable silence. Jordan's hand was still shoved under her shirt, but it wasn't moving, and since Elliot didn't dare turn around, she could only stare at the mirror to gauge Jordan's reaction to that little…interruption. Both her eyebrows were raised, her mouth half-open in a smirk. Finally, she broke the silence.

"Why, you sure get around, princess. If you're perfectly comfortable asking Miller-time out, why the hell are you acting like such a pansy about this? Oh – not to mention that I'm _much_ hotter than she is."

Elliot was beginning to get the slightest bit irritated – something she only dared do if _Jordan_ wasn't irritated, and thankfully, she didn't really seem it. More sarcastic, and maybe the tiniest bit taken aback.

"Uh, I didn't ask Dr. Miller out," she found herself correcting peevishly, shifting slightly – leaning against the washbasin was starting to be slightly uncomfortable. "Now are you going to feel me up, or not?"

Jordan chuckled, kissing her neck, pausing with amusement when Elliot stiffened a little in response. "Oh, Perry was _never _this much fun…and DJ was even more useless."

Elliot squeaked.

_

* * *

__J.D fumbled with his belt, shaking, and Dr. Cox stared at him briefly, looking positively beatific. "Ah," he said finally, in a low voice, making J.D look up. "You're catching on." _

As J.D undid his belt, brow furrowed with concentration, Dr. Cox found himself slowly pressing lips to his protégé's neck, trying to even out his breathing. The examination light was still on, but it was shining in the wrong area now, and it was casting shadows over them that made it hard for J.D to see; he kept missing the zipper. Finally, Perry's patience ran out, he reached down and undid it himself, and J.D froze.

"Let me do this. Please."

It was Dr. Cox's turn to pause. Did J.D have any idea of what he was asking? Did it matter? he wondered next. Did it matter, now, when J.D was kissing his neck again, hands still – how could it matter now?

"Fine," he answered eventually, roughly. He tried to keep his voice empty of his usual bitterness, but some of it found its way into his next words. "It's your show."

Ever so slowly, cheeks red, J.D bent over and kissed his chest, once, twice, three times, lips trailing downwards all the while. Their positions had been reversed; J.D was half sitting, half standing, and Perry was relatively surprised to discover _he_ was the one backed up against the exam table now. Unintentionally, he flinched when J.D touched his shoulder with cold fingers, but, meeting the other doctor's eyes, reluctantly allowed himself to be pushed back onto the surface.

J.D gave him a quick, vague smile. For an instant, he looked characteristically sheepish as he allowed his fingers to trace awkwardly over hips and skin, mimicking Dr. Cox's earlier actions. Up till then, Perry had been propped up on his elbows to watch him, but as J.D pressed a shaky kiss to his ribs, more a brush of his teeth than his lips, he slumped backward with a barely audible moan. The position put his head at a ridiculous angle, half off the table, staring upside down at the blindingly white light bulb, with all the blood rushing to his head; and for a moment, Perry considered sitting up again. But then J.D slipped fingers under the waistline of his scrubs, jerkily tugging them down, and Dr. Cox forgot about his discomfort entirely.

Still, lying in this position made it impossible to see J.D at all. Whilst in some ways, this was probably easier – because there was something inside Dr. Cox that was shrieking that this was wrong – it made it difficult to know what his protégé was doing. It meant he had to rely entirely on physical awareness to anticipate, and that in turn meant he was forced to concentrate on _sensation _rather than sex. As for now, he could feel nothing at all, so he strained his other senses.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god…"

After a moment, Dr. Cox realized it was J.D, muttering to himself unsteadily. After the sudden awakening of his own doubts, he had almost forgotten how nervous J.D had seemed at first – and how much coaxing it had taken on his behalf to get them here. Abruptly, Dr. Cox felt a flash of desire. He quashed it reluctantly; he knew by now that it was spurred on more by a need to be in control than by genuine lust. Somehow, it was far easier to expose than to be exposed, and he was feeling the urge to shift the balance of power again. Perry had enjoyed running his fingers down J.D's chest as he lay perfectly horizontal on the exam table. Now that it was him, he was beginning to feel slightly defensive – already unconsciously anticipating an attack.

"Dr. Cox."

His name was accompanied by a hand brushing that nearly made him flinch again. To his surprise however, the movement stilled; J.D rested light fingers over his arousal through the material of his boxers.

"Perry…" J.D's tone was tentative. When Dr. Cox did not answer, he leant down and rested his cheek against the doctor's chest. Again, Perry said nothing, but his mind was whirring. It was disturbingly antithetical, one gesture betraying lust, the other, something more profound. It reminded him of small child cradling his head against his mother's bosom; it was a gesture that asked for protection and _a_ffection more than anything else.

Then J.D turned his head slightly, pressing lips against skin. His voice was steadier, now, and almost mocking as he asked, "Do I get to call you Perry, now?"

"No," Dr. Cox began in a growl, not quite ready to surrender that last piece of armor, but stopped talking abruptly. J.D had suddenly stroked downwards, startling him, and his eyes snapped open. He could almost feel the smirk against his navel as his protégé went on, softly,

"So you get to call me J.D, but I don't get to call you Perry?"

Every time the sensations got too much, J.D pulled him back by baiting him with words. The younger doctor's confidence was both a surprise and something of a turn on. At first, Perry had felt the beginnings of panic, and that now familiar resurgence of the desire to steal back control of the situation. Because even though he knew how important it was for him to let J.D do this, he was having trouble restraining himself. Every time he caught a glimpse of that black hair, he had to fight the urge to lace fingers through it and drag their mouths together.

Abruptly, Dr. Cox remembered he should answer the question. Answering might take his mind off the fact that he was sprawled half naked on an exam table with his protégé kneeling between his legs.

"That's exactly right, Peter Pan."

It did work, somewhat, until J.D's fingers found the edge of his boxers and began unsteadily sliding them down.

"That's not my name, _Perry._" The tone was almost chiding. Dr. Cox felt his fingers clench into fists, and tried to convince himself it was in anger. And that the only reason he was holding his breath was because J.D's fingers were so cold.

"You're already lost all your man-cards, _Newbie_, so you should just go ahead and feel glad I called you a _male _fictional character."

"Oh, please." J.D paused, but his hand didn't, and Dr. Cox made a sharp sound in the back of his throat. Clearly, all his 'nightly rituals' explained why J.D wasn't _half _bad at this, but that was no excuse for the unmistakably smug tone that was creeping into his voice. "You only called me that because fictional characters _totally _get you off."

"Do they? Do they totally?" Perry almost sat up, but J.D seemed to guess his motive, and squeezed, pressing another smudgy kiss to his hips. It was remarkably hard to continue. "Barbara, do you _try _to sound like a girl or does it just come naturally? And what is god's name are you rabbitting on about?"

"Jordan. Elliot walked past an 'empty room' a couple of months ago, and you are apparently Jordan's 'Superman'."

The last thing Dr. Cox wanted to think about right now was Jordan and her inability to stop making fun of him when they had sex.

"_Shut the hell up_, Veronica."

Once, J.D would have quailed. Now, he simply smiled in a disturbingly smug way, and lowered his head to brush a nipple with his lips. Feverishly, Dr. Cox reminded himself that this was his way of saying sorry to J.D: being this vulnerable.

_Except of course I'll be damned if I know what I'm apologizing for, I didn't do anything wrong, and if the kid – oh. _

Lips. Wetness. It was very tentative, and all Dr. Cox could do was try and hold incredibly still, echoing the nervousness that was making one of J.D's hands, placed over a hip, shake a little. Repeating the soothing and now familiar exercise of trying to even out his breathing, Perry stared blankly at the black tuft of JD's hair, biting his lip.

_It's not that it's entirely unpleasant_ – even if it wasn't J.D, he was fairly sure he wouldn't find it unpleasant. Inexperience and obvious shyness aside. It was more that he was trying to juggle contrasting emotions without letting one take precedence. Thankfully, J.D somehow knew to be helpful. After a moment, Dr. Cox felt him shift, and replace his mouth with his hand again. His cheeks were even darker when he spoke, softly.

"_Shut the hell up_? Perry, you'll have to do better than that."

_

* * *

Sitting up and pulling his shirt on, Dr. Cox gave J.D a long look over the padded bench of the exam table._

"I'm curious – did you just get bored with being angry with me, or is it the head injury?"

Before J.D could answer, the door that Perry suddenly remembered was unlocked flung open.

"J.D, I have to talk to you!"

There was a long pause, ruptured by a squeak. Elliot screwed her eyes shut and careened backwards, arms cart wheeling wildly.

"It can wait!"

Relief swept him through him. Barbie. It was only Barbie. She wouldn't tell anyone. He had threatened her too many times for her to tell anyone. Laughing slightly – an uncommon sight to be sure – he ruffled J.D's hair affectionately.

"Don't look so petrified, Susannah. She already knew, what with you being such an obvious little girl about it."

"She already – she already –"

Dr. Cox put on his deep voice. "There there, Lucia. I know I strongly resemble the statue of an incredibly attractive Roman god. These curls...these eyes...But all the same, I just can't have you swooning. There's to be no _swooning_."

J.D shot him an adorably sarcastic look, hair mussed and still shirtless. "The originality of your insults astounds me." After a moment, his expression became slightly less adorable, and slightly more genuine. "Why aren't you worried? How the hell are you not worried? She could tell –"

"She's not going to tell Jordan. She's terrified of Jordan. Hell, even _I'm_ terrified of Jordan, and I'm sleeping with the she-hag."

"She might tell _Carla_. Or _Laverne _might hear."

J.D sounded snappish as he located and pulled on his clothes. Try as Perry might to read his expression, his protégé's eyes were hidden by his struggle to get his shirt over his head. Dr. Cox managed a few seconds of patience before seizing the bottom of the material and yanking downwards.

"_Ow_!" J.D glared at him briefly before running hands through his hair. "Now you've ruined my –"

"Don't say it," Perry growled. He was beginning to feel irritated himself – what the hell was J.D's problem? "So you're still not up for spooning, then?"

J.D froze in front of the door, but didn't turn around. Perry sighed.

"Look, god forbid I give the illusion of caring, Gwendolyn, but what the hell are you sulking about?"

The stiffness seemed to go out of him; he half turned, half shrugged. "Forget it," he said quietly, and even though his voice had softened, Dr. Cox knew he wouldn't take his own advice.

_

* * *

**A/N: I couldn't resist starting the chapter with Elliot. I was hoping to incite a very furious **__what? _from everyone who was hoping for some smut. And I'm fairly sure that _the above _barely constitutes smut. In my defense, I'm trying to keep it you know, moderately believable (ha! ha!). Also, I'm fairly sure I'd be incapable of writing smut despite my extensive experience with gay (and straight) sex (joking. Obviously.) 

A/N 2: Do not ask me why, but oh! Did I have sick fun writing Dr. Cox's "psyche".

**A/N 3: Just a warning. Dr. Miller…Dr. Miller rocks hard. We may be seeing more of her. More of her in a Jordan/Elliot context. Now I'm going to go whistle innocently, enjoy. **

**A/N 4: This is nearing the end, by the way. I'd say, maybe three more chapters? Four, maybe? Kind of depends. But yes – just to let you all know. **

**Reviewers:**

**Scathing Sarcasm: **Okay, this does not qualify as punctual. But hopefully, it does qualify as vaguely smutty. So, um. Enjoy? (And thankyou!)

**Miskit: **Uhhr. I hope you keep thinking so! Thank you so much!

**purerandomness: **You're right, of course. As _this _chapter ought to prove. Am _I _right? (Thankies!)

**Aseret** **Kitsune: **I'm so glad you like it! And a hug to you too! And, no, of course. I love being added to C2s…and it doesn't happen all that often. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

**Baba-sama: **Oh, thank you so much. Us LJ & cross over people rock, don't we? XD I'm sorry this took so long, and I'm not even going to be helping you to procrastinate, since it's the holidays!

**loveless101: **Loveless…isn't that an anime? If so, is it any good? I am told so. Thanks for the review.

**Mystery Reviewer: **Ah yes. Mutely, my favorite word. (Kidding). Thanks for pointing that out, I have a tendency to do that! And thankyou for reading, reviewing, and apparently enjoying!

**Iconic Superheroes**: Mint on JD/Cox equaling the Scrubs OTP. Even for non-slash fans. Thanks for the review.

**I-Shave-Clowns: **I love your username! And yes, please marry me. I don't bite, contrary to common belief. Thank you so much for reading and enjoying! I'm just the frump who doesn't sleep enough, and has to do something to pass the time. XD

**Cruel Mistress: **Having sick fun with the J/E femmeslash, actually. I'm so glad you like it, thankyou.

**astrathnine: **How could anyone not like Scrubs? And oh, you angel! You are so very sweet! And yeah, I'm a little pedantic. To the point where people kill me for it occasionally. Anyhoo, I'm rambling, but basically, thank you so much. You are so very kind and I am so very undeserving.

**lilviorX: **Sadly not that graphic, but I do what I can. XD

**IronFist** **Shady Gurl: **Sorry this took so long. And I hope they're not terribly out of character, as I fear they might be.

**megs626: **Hah, I'm not sure this would ever happen on the show (sadly)! But thank you, glad I could help you get into an utterly cool pairing. XD

**Senko Wakimarin: **Thank you so much! But please do be careful! No matter how much you like this fic (and you are very very sweet to like it so much), don't make your eye fall out! That would suck something terrible. XD Thank you so very very much.

**Nigira** **Ashika: **Perfectionism is cool! Thanks for your review, and your correction. And – you'll notice a little plug for you at the beginning of this chapter. Because you rock, and that line really inspired me to continue writing when I was massively stuck. So thanks. Very much.

**edheadnumber99: **Here we are.

**Kay: **Thankyou so much! And as for how I thought it up…I can only credit the amazing House/Wilson, _Contamination,_ which I plugged somewhere in the first chapter, I think. Thanks again, Kay. You are so sweet. Glad I could make you laugh.

**Elise Davidson: **I hope this isn't too overdone! I tried to keep it; well, as I may have already ranted on about – "realistic". And yes, I am still going red and glancing over my shoulder. Thanks for your lovely review!

**RatherNot: **You lie. I mean, thank you. And I am flattered. BUT YOU LIE, they are terribly out of character. Especially this chapter, uhhggr. Excuse my self-doubt and worthlessness. Thankyou for the comment. Glad I could make you el-oh-el. XD

**mimi: **Oh, thank you so much! Hope this isn't a let down! And sorry again for the wait!

**PlayWithRosie: **Here's a little continuation for you. XD Glad you like it. Thanks so much.

**Dance A Daisy: **Everyone keeps complimenting my characterization, and I'm pretty sure I've just butchered it. In one chapter. Niice. On another note – thank you! I'm glad you like it. XD

**psamiad: **Thanks. And yeah, it's pretty…odd. Nothing else would work for J.D/Cox, me thinks!


	7. VII: Anger

Compromise

**Length: Still not a one-shot. What's the MATTER with you? (Jordan)  
Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox  
Rating: M (smile…)  
Warnings: Slash, obviously. And see above.  
Set: Post 5th Season.  
Songlist: **_**Satin Chic**_**, Goldfrapp  
**_**Everything to Everyone**_**, Everclear **

**A/N 3: Such as the fact that I'm doing final exams. But they're over now. Thank god. And well. That's about it actually. Dammit. It sounded more substantial in my head. **

**A/N 4: Once again, I ****will update****. Even if it takes me as long as this one took, or longer. Frankly, the only reason I would not update was if **_**I died**_**. Or something likewise. Okay? Otherwise I promise that I will always update this fanfiction. **

**Warnings: Slash. Wanton overuse of the word "protégé" and "other doctor". Extremely out of character, **_**especially this chapter**_

**Dedication: Anyone who's still reading. You are a patient, patient, loyal person.**

VII: Anger  


Dr. Cox relied on several things in order to be left alone. The surly expression, vicious reputation he had obtained, and the slightly insane perm that constituted his hair were amongst his most valuable tools at warding off a potential interlocutor None of these things, however, had ever had any effect on J.D, to his consternation.

So it was surprising when the younger doctor started avoiding him, even if it was not for any of the reasons above – or at least, it would have been, under different circumstances. Since the…_examination_, J.D seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. Dr. Cox was becoming pathetically irritated by this fact. He had even, after a lengthy internal struggle, gone so far as to bully Kelso into revealing the younger doctor's whereabouts; Kelso finally replied, with much asperity, that Dorian had been calling in sick for the past few days, and accompanied this statement with the stream of usual insults Dr. Cox was too distracted to register or even retaliate to.

What was he going to do, when he did see him? This was a question that was weighing heavily on Dr. Cox's mind as he prowled the corridors of Sacred Heart, scowling. Even though he (resentfully) missed his protégé's irritating, unashamed over-enthusiasm and leech-like tendency, he dreaded J.D's return as well. It would mean that the time had come, finally, to make a choice. A choice Dr. Cox had been avoiding since this entire fiasco started, a choice he had, in fact, initially refused to believe even existed. This reasoning – that his sudden need to kiss J.D in order to keep working in medicine did not in any way incur consequences – was predictably flawed, and had fallen apart earlier than even he had expected. Even so, Dr. Cox might have survived it – if it hadn't been for the…_examination_.

Something had changed. Of course it had; Perry had consciously let it change – how could he have been so stupid? He had let J.D take control; he had let him…let him…and now J.D was staying away, staying away because he knew, now, that a desire for control had not been the only thing on his mentor's mind when he had pushed him against the wall; there had been something else there, lurking beneath the surface…

_I didn't expect him to bolt_, Dr. Cox thought bitterly. And he hadn't – how could he expect Newbie, the doctor who had acted like a love struck teenager around him from day one, to get cold feet? Perry had been more preoccupied with himself; more worried about letting his own emotions spin out of control…

And now they had, and now, finally, Dr. Cox was facing the choice he had so desperately tried to evade. He could either plough on in denial – or he could listen to the voice that had been lurking beneath the surface. A cynical part of him reflected on the uselessness of this line of thought – all evidence, at the moment, pointed at J.D never showing up to work again…and now, for some reason, a painful scene was playing out inside his head. Perry, would, perhaps, listen to that voice only to find out that J.D was not interested…had never been interested…that the past few weeks had been nothing but a game to the younger doctor…or some sick, twisted joke…

It was paranoid; dimly, Dr. Cox knew that this scenario did not fit with his characterization of J.D, but for some reason, he could not dispel the sick feeling it left in his stomach. It hung around even at lunch times, making it hard for him to eat anything. Instead he retreated to all his usual techniques for warding people away: staring at the tray in front of him with a clenched jaw, crossed arms and murderous eyes.

So he was suitably surprised when he was interrupted nevertheless.

"Dr. Cox?"

Who on earth could be this _thick_? He looked up, and got his answer: Todd.

"Whatever you have to say, don't," Perry growled at his mashed potato. He found, in retrospect, that he was actually quite pleased to have someone to lash out at. "Swallow it, turn around, and walk away. If you are so abysmally stupid you would come up to me and try to _waste my time_ with your pathetic drivel on this day – _today_! – then you deserve nothing more than to be gutted like a fish. For some reason I'm feeling generous and I'm giving you a second chance."

Todd, unsurprisingly, did not know how to respond to this. After a second of flabbergasted silence, Turk, who had been standing slightly to the side, watching this exchange, trundled up and smacked him companionably on the shoulder.

"It's cool. I got it from here. I owe you one."

Dr. Cox gave the surgeon an extremely dirty look as he sat down opposite.

"You bravely sent him ahead like a front line soldier there, Gandhi."

"_Exactly_," Turk answered energetically, chewing a bite of his hamburger as he did so. "You get me. But that's not why I'm here. I want to know: what did you do to J.D?"

Perry raised both eyebrows. "Excuse me?" he asked in his most dangerous voice.

The surgeon swallowed. "Don't try and pretend you haven't noticed, 'cause I know you have. He hasn't been coming to work, and now I want to know what you did. Come on." He made a hand gesture that Dr. Cox had never seen before.

"Jennifer's sick, as far as I know. Did she say I _did _something?" He asked cautiously.

"He said he was sick. But J.D wouldn't tell me if you had done something. Man, you _know _he worships you –"

"Yeah, yeah. So just because Priscilla hasn't been to work lately, you assume it's got something to do with me?"

"Sometimes I think you and I actually do speak the same language after all."

Dr. Cox gave him an incredulous look and shook his head, laughing humorlessly.

"No. For that to be the case, I'd have to choose either _man_, _dude_, or _yo_ and tail it on to the end of every sentence."

Turk did not seem impressed. Instead, he waved a piece of hamburger emphatically. "That's real funny. Stop avoiding the question. What did you say to my best friend? Because I have _never _seen him like this, not ever, and you're the _only _one he listens to that much."

"Gosh, Gandhi. Kelso says his sick, I say he's sick, J.D says his sick – did it ever occur to you" – he pulled a face – "that he _might just be sick_?"

Before Turk could answer, Carla pushed her way into the cafeteria. She spotted him at once and headed over, pausing only to give Perry a filthy look.

"_Whatever you did_," she said, pointing a finger. "Whatever you did…" She didn't seem to feel the need to finish the sentence, because she then laid an arm on Turk's. "Come on, baby."

Perry growled after them, wordless with frustration.

_

* * *

_A few days later, Dr. Cox found himself in the same situation: glaring at the food on his tray whilst somebody tried to talk to him. 

"Dr. Cox?"

"_Go Away Go Away Go Away Go Away_ –"

"Pe – Perry?"

Dr. Cox looked up. Standing there, in front of him, cafeteria tray in his hand was J.D. He had an awkward half smile on his face, but if faded when their eyes met. Dr. Cox felt slightly stunned, and not a little angry.

"Newbie, where have you been?"

J.D looked sheepish. "Sick," he answered quickly. Once, he might have followed this statement by a lame joke about not wanting to affect already sick patients, a reference to some band or movie Dr. Cox had either never heard of or despised, or he might even have made a wry, bordering-on-smarmy comment about Having Been Missed. Instead, the word hung in the air, isolated, making the feeling of anger even more pronounced.

"What are you doing here?"

J.D glanced at the coffee cup in his hand, then at the one in front of Dr. Cox. "Trying futilely to wake myself up by having coffee?"

"Not with me, you're not," he said, waking up a little. He cast a quick look around the room. "Look, Newbie. Not only do I not _want_ to have coffee with you, I _can't _have coffee with you, alright?" Something of his old gruffness entered his voice. "I mean for god's sake, how many times are you going to put me through this conversation?"

"One coffee." J.D paused to place his cup on the table, and Dr. Cox felt the same feeling as earlier – as though someone had hit him in the head with a mallet. There was a dark gleam in J.D's eyes he had never seen before: determination without the slightest hint of fear.

"Now is not a good time for you to grow a pair," Dr. Cox answered sharply, and J.D's eyes flashed, but not with anger. "Look, Jordan, despite appearances, is not stupid. Now, I never let you get anywhere _near_ me with a polystyrene cup unless you're on coffee duty for your latest medical screw up, and she knows that. So if I let you sit down now, Newbie, there is no _telling _how that she-shrew will react when she finds out. And she will, she always does."

"Hag," J.D corrected, confusedly. "She-hag."

Dr. Cox almost growled. He would have, but he owed it to J.D – this tiny gesture of not shoving him away as completely as he once might have.

But that didn't change the fact that he _was _shoving him away.

"Right. She-hag."

Another voice interrupted them, pleasant and with just a hint of a smirk.

"Aren't hags female anyway? And shrews, come to think of it…"

Dr. Cox looked up again, barely stifling a groan. Opposite him, J.D had seized the opportunity to slide into a seat and sip quickly from his coffee cup, holding it with two hands, which was making him look absolutely ridiculous. Still, Newbie had greater concerns at the moment. Like arranging his face in a suitably innocent expression for Elliot, for instance.

"You guys are having coffee together? That is so _cute_."

"Barbie, you are exactly the last person I want to see right now," began Dr. Cox in a low growl. J.D, meanwhile, chanced a glance upwards; his mentor had pushed his chair out from the table and was eying Elliot with vindictive relish. Watching him, J.D had a sudden, sneaking suspicion that Perry was venting the anger he felt towards _him_ on Elliot. He quickly lowered his eyes to his coffee cup again.

"Which, by the way, puts you at the bottom of a just hu-_uge _list. So if you value that wrist-skinny waist you've worked so hard for, I recommend you get the hell out of here before I make you sure the only exercise you get is pushing the controls of your new wheelchair."

"_Ouch!_"

Without intending to, J.D and Dr. Cox found themselves exchanging fleeting looks. J.D looked panicked; Dr. Cox looked even grumpier. Curiously enough, Elliot was also looking startled and more wide eyed than usual; she physically jumped when Jordan leant her hands on the table, eyeing Perry with a widening smile.

"That's really wounding, Perry. Anyway, do you have you got a second away from scaring everybody at the hospital to talk to me? I know Blondie's monopolizing all your time but you might want to occupy yourself with somebody else occasionally. Like  
_me_, for instance."

Dr. Cox wet his lips and darted a quick glance at J.D, who was staring at his coffee cup with abnormal fascination. Then he turned to Elliot, refusing to acknowledge Jordan by so much as a glance.

"Actually – you're second last, Barbie."

"Oh, come on, Perry." Jordan's tone was mollifying. Surprised, Perry twisted in his seat to face her.

"_Hi,_ Jordan. How lovely to see you." He dropped the voice. "_What _are you doing here?"

"I only stopped by to see if you remembered Jack. You know, your _son_? The one who hasn't seen you for the past month? And since _I _couldn't get any sleep because he won't quit _wailing_, and obviously enough, you're not sleeping either, since this hospital somehow manages to make you leap out of bed at ungodly hours every morning, I thought I might drop by, and the three of us could spend some quality time together." She cast a fleeting glance at Elliot; J.D felt himself relax into his chair. Jordan clearly hadn't noted his presence at all. "So lay off of Sticks for a minute and come listen to your son bawl his eyes out."

"That's just a _lovely_ speech –"

But he was interrupted.

"Jordan, why are you defending me?" Elliot's voice was even more high-pitched than usual. She had been watching the exchange with noticeable agitation, and now she sounded properly angry. "Why does everybody around here think I need defending?" Her voice lowered slightly, into the guttural tones that were a warning of impending bodily harm. "And I thought _you_ wouldn't do that!"

"Jordan?" Perry repeated after a second into the silence. "_Jordan_? What happened to 'Miss O'Sullivan, I'm spineless and afraid to speak to you?'?"

"Good question," Jordan snapped at Elliot. "Next time I won't waste my breath, Anne-with-an-e."

But now a terrible thing was happening; Dr. Cox could feel it. Elliot was glancing between him and J.D and Jordan in quick succession, as though seeing something properly for the first time. Her eyes had widened impossibly, and a slow, bemused kind of smile was forming on her mouth. Then, suddenly, she let out a giggle, more a puff, of choked laughter. It sounded more relieved than genuinely happy, and, opposite him, J.D had half-risen in his chair as if he somehow guessed what Elliot was about to do.

"Barbie, shut up," Perry tried quietly.

"You did this to us, on our first year," she began to say, slowly, to Jordan, ignoring him completely. "I was so _scared_ of you" – she gave that little laugh that seemed to say that this was no longer the case – "and you stood up here" – Blondie jabbed at the tabletop with one finger – "_right here_ and told us all of our secrets. Like we were cowards for –"

"Barbie? Shut the _hell _up." Dr. Cox slammed down the napkin holder for good measure. After all, it had worked previously. But Elliot only jumped, her voice rising by several octaves but not faltering. Worse, the sharp sound seemed only to have precipitated the inevitable; she stopped mid sentence and suddenly blurted:

"Dr. Cox and J.D – " She didn't have to say anything else, but she tried to. "They…Dr. Cox…and J.D…"

Jordan froze. There was something more stiff about her face than usual as she turned, deliberately, to look directly at him. Dr. Cox held his breath. He desperately wanted to glance at J.D's face to see his expression, but knew that if he looked away from Jordan now…

J.D's eyes were wide over his coffee cup.

Too late, he realized Jordan was heading for the door.

Dr. Cox stood up suddenly. "Don't be a hypocrite, Jordan!" he yelled angrily, and Jordan stopped walking to turn back and give him the coldest look she could muster. There was nothing contrived about her rage anymore, none of the self-deprecating mockery that made all her temper tantrums unreal.

"Congratulations, Perry," she said finally, disgustedly. "You've officially managed to sabotage this the second time around."

"Jordan! _Jordan_!" Dr. Cox swung the doors open, running after her.

"_Jordan_!" Elliot followed behind.

"Dr. Cox!" So did J.D.

**A/N 3: And I'm profusely sorry.**

**A/N 4: And just so you know, I'm writing another chapter. Very soon. Promise. **

**A/N 5: Just to explain some of the really OOC things that happened this chapter, and to try to make them seem IC: Jordan has led Elliot to believe she is totally fine with the J.D/Cox thing (indeed if you remember this is how there thing started), but of course when it actually **_**happens**_**, she is less than fine. Elliot would never have blurted it out to begin with, but she was slightly furious from watching the Cox/Jordan exchange and the fondness beneath the sniping. **

**Reviewers:**

**purerandomness: **Oh, if only something like that would happen! The ratings would sky rocket! XD Thanks for the comment; I'm glad you liked the chapter. I see what you mean with Elliot – that's the issue with writing Scrubs, I think: so many of the characters are more caricatures and it's easy to veer off. That said, I do agree that my writing of her has (and probably will continue being, if this woeful chapter is any indication) been rather sketchy.

**loveless101: **Yes, you are utterly right! He is indeed. And he has reason to be – considering this chapter and all. I shall check Loveless out. I have heard good things about it.

**I-Shave-Clowns: **Hello there wifey. (I think I should be the guy. I mean really.) I apologize PROFUSELY for how long this pathetic excuse for a chapter took me. On another note – Tom Jones? Really? O.o.

**megs626: **I'm so glad you like it. Thanks again.

**LunaML: **Lol. I'm glad.

**Thunder-Kun: **Thanks. And I will. Even if it takes me forever, I will.

**Elise Davidson: **I see what you mean; when writers make someone drop dead in order to completely change the characters to fit what they need…sometimes it can be well done, other times, not really! Anyway, I'm really glad you (still) like it (seriously, when will you guys realize it's TERRIBLE?), and thanks again. )

**Beloved: **Is your name, perhaps, a reference to a very excellent book? A Very Very Excellent Book? My favourite book in the history of the Earth, along side _The Moth Diaries_? If so, I adore you. If not…ah, well. I forgive you. XD On another note – thanks for reading & reviewing! Glad you enjoyed it.

**Dr. Caduceus: **Anyone who can use preemptively in a sentence is more than welcome to harass me. Glad you enjoyed it; thanks for the review and _so sorry _for the wait!

**Rion-Kerr: **Thank you so much. I'm very glad you like it. Um. Contamination. Let me see. By canapérouge, I believe, on LJ. If that's not the name, it's in my favorites on LJ (which is linked through my Bio, I think). I would check, but it's midnight and I'm feeling lazy, I'm afraid. But it's an amazing story.

**Samu: **Thank you! Very much. I kind of feel like this chapter is a really pathetic thing for me to make you guys wait so long for. But I promise you, the next one will be better.

**tatsumaki: **Thank you for totally getting the point of that Dr. Miller/Elliot/Jordan scene. I mean, really. Couldn't have put it better myself. (And, hell yes.)

**Char: **I'm glad you liked those bits. They're moments I really enjoyed writing myself, and it's so gratifying when how easy it was to _write _corresponds with how easy it is to _read_, if you get what I mean. Imperfect smuttiness. Thank you very much, that's _exactly _what I was going for.

**LQ: **Thank you so much! I love it when people compliment (or indeed, criticize) the characterization, as that's one of the most interesting aspects of writing this if you ask me. I wish I could leave you a more long winded response, but it's midnight and I really do want to post this. So, thank you very much.

**Star Future: **I'm very glad you like it, but I hasten to correct the notion that I have any clue where this is going: I certainly don't. I write on a whim, I'm afraid…so who knows…

**GraveDigger Resurrection: **Thank you, so much. What a sweet comment. I'm glad you like the characterization, I'm head over heels you enjoyed the thought processes behind it, and a tiny part of me is smug that you find this hot. So thank you, really, very very much.

**Generally Maz: **Here's a little Todd for you! D Not much, but the tiniest smallest glimmer of him. I'm sure I will find more use for him…when it fits the…_ahem_…"plot".

**Absolute Obscurity: **As always, you is very sweet, honja. I love J/E. I have an amazingly cute (if I say so myself) idea for them in the next chapter…which I promise will take less long than this one. O.o. Promise!


	8. IIX: Negotiations

Compromise

**Length: Constantly expanding, to the author's dismay.  
Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox, Jordan/Elliot  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Slash. _Exceedingly_ light smuttishness.  
****Set: Post 5th Season.  
Songlist:**

_**Your Amour**_**, Charlotte Martin  
**_**Up All Night**_**, Charlotte Martin  
**_**Nothing in My Way,**_** Keane  
**_**A Bad Dream**_**, Keane **

**Yes, I know. And I don't care if **_**you **_**don't care what I'm listening to. **

**A/N: Look! Look! Quick(ish) update! Almost 2000 words. Though please don't die of shock. **

**A/N 2: SPOILERY: This chapter may surprise a few of you, since it has essentially no J.D/Cox in it whatsoever. Nor does it have any Jordan/Elliot. You may not want to read this yet, since it refers to events that happen not only in this chapter but _in the next one, _but its got a lot of **_**working through it **_**Jordan/Cox, which is a trifle odd in the context of this story, I suppose, and it also has some J.D/Elliot. BUT – the "final" pairing is and always will be Cox/JD & Elliot/Jordan. You know, once I figure out how to get there. (Kidding. My plot may be exceedingly vague, but I do know what this large portion is doing here. Though I confess I had no idea I was going to have this. Once again, this story keeps insisting on expanding.)**

**A/N 3: The usual reminder: I will update.**

**Warnings: HET. Slash. Wanton overuse of the word "protégé" and "other doctor". Extremely out of character, **_**especially **_**all **_**chapters**_

**Dedication: Canaperouge's **_**Compromise**_

* * *

IIX: Negotiations

Jordan was halfway down the walkway outside the entrance of Sacred Heart when Perry caught up with her. At first, she didn't stop, but then he yelled out her name again, and Jordan felt a flicker of something like pity, or guilt. She turned. He looked disheveled and distressed and completely at loss, and the flicker intensified, combined with vindictive satisfaction.

"Jordan, _please_ –"

"Sleep with anyone you like," she shrieked suddenly, unexpectedly. Until now, Jordan had been feeling relatively calm, but that word, tailed after her name had somehow ignited her anger. The entire situation was horribly familiar, but now their places were reversed. Would Perry prove as taciturn as she had? Would he chase after her and refuse to let her go? And if he did, would she react exactly as he had before, and destroy every single remnant of their relationship?

"I can't believe this, and I should be able to, because you do this _every single time_, Perry. _Every single time_! When are we both just going to wake up and accept the fact that has been so _repeatedly _proved and stop this stupid self-destructive _thing _we have?" A terrible thought occurred to her; her hand moved to her stomach. "What about Jack, Perry? Did you think of him at all? _What's going to happen to Jack_? Did you even consider him when you –"

"Well, Jordan, clearly great minds think alike because if I'm remembering this correctly I wasn't the first person to –"

She waited for him to finish in silence. Instead, he broke off and took a shuddering breath.

"Give me another chance."

_Another chance?_ Jordan almost laughed. _Perry, how many chances have I given you already? _But she did not voice the thought. No. This time, she would not be the one to lash out. She would not make the same mistake twice. Instead, she would ascertain all the facts – and then lash out.

"Well, do you love him?"

"_No_," Perry answered instantly, emphatically. "No. No – that is – no – not, not – yes, platonically."

"Platonically," Jordan repeated, still determinedly emotionless, and Dr. Cox flushed belatedly.

"God, Jordan! My – ego – likes him. Hell, _I_ – _I_ like him, the same way I liked the kid who followed me around at uni, worshipfully offering me coffee all the time."

Jordan didn't bother saying anything this time. Elliot may not have been detailed in her disclosure, but Perry's glance towards J.D had robbed her of the comfort of denial.

"And…and I…" His tone changed. Before, he had sounded like regular Perry, arguing about why he couldn't baby sit Jack: the petty inflection and the wild hyperboles. Now he sounded like he had when Ben had died. The thought was like a shard of ice in her stomach; her fingers tightened instinctively, clenching the material of her shirt. "What do you want from me, Jordan? What do you want me to say? I like him in another way, too."

The confession surprised her, only because she had not expected him to admit it to himself, least of all to her. Coupled with the surprise was the feeling of something being wound very tight in her throat. She wanted to say something half sarcastic, half encouraging, like _Gosh, Perry, I think it's a little late for you to start being honest, don't you?_ but the words wouldn't come out. The tight thing in her throat was clearly constricting the passage of air as well. She had to watch in silence as he walked up to the railing and leant against it, refusing to look at her. His voice was muffled: "God, Jordan. What am I going to do?"

_How should I know_? Jordan wondered. To even begin contemplating that question, she had to ask another, as dispassionately as possible.

"Him or me?"

"You," Perry answered immediately, roughly. Frustration crept into his voice, at her, or at himself: "God help me, Jordan, it's _always_ you. I tried to walk away from you once and I got as far as this goddamn hospital, and I can't do it this time, I can't. Honest to god, I don't have it in me."

The thing in her throat unwound slightly, and seemed to loosen. "Gosh, Perry, I think it's a little late for commitment, don't you?"

He shrugged and swallowed. "Just give me another chance, Jordan."

Jordan shook her head. "No."

Slowly, disoriented, Perry turned away from her and started back towards the hospital. Jordan let her hand fall to her side. She felt less ill than before, and the tightness in her throat had almost completely receded; so much so that her voice was very nearly tart when she called out, bringing him to a halt in front of the sliding doors:

"_Perry_. Do you know me at _all_? Did you _really _think it was going to be that easy?" Jordan glanced away, meticulously readjusting the strap of her bag against her shoulder to give him time to turn back or leave. When she glanced up again, the doors to Sacred Heart had slid shut and Perry was standing on her side.

"You're going to go to Kelso and tell him you're taking a week off work and that if he has a problem with it he can take it up with me. You're going to drive home, and the first thing you're going to do is get the treadmill _out _of the living room. Then you're going to call a babysitter, and she had better be hideous. _Then_ you're going to drive me to lunch at a restaurant with so many stars they can't fit them on the outside placard. And _then_ you're going to take me out to a nightclub, where I'm going to wear clothes that are _ridiculously _young for me and make out with a lot of men young enough to be Jack's bestest friends fifteen years from now."

Perry swallowed again, glancing at the ground. After a moment he stood up slightly straighter, and looked directly at her. "Is that – is that all, dear?" There was a hint of sarcasm in the last word.

"I want _dates_, Perry. I want _gifts_. I want _absurdly expensive _champagne. I want the waiter with the most luxurious sounding name in the restaurant. I want foot massages. _And I want an apology_."

She hadn't really finished her list – just paused for breath – but Perry answered anyway, breathlessly.

"I'm sorry."

The wound creature in her throat tensed up slightly. It took a long second to force the words past its thick coils.

"Nice try, Perry. Don't keep me waiting."

She tossed him the keys, and felt slight surprise when he instinctively caught them. The sun had now fully risen and was blazing in the sky, and hunger was starting to kick in, along with the knowledge that the neighbor – fine, the neighbor's _son – _she'd coerced into keeping an eye on Jack was probably more than a little pissed that the "minute" Jack had required minding for had turned into over an hour. He'd probably be late for school.

"Who's minding Jack?" Perry asked quietly as they crossed the car park.

"One of our neighbors," Jordan answered truthfully, in a clipped voice. "Are you going to open the car door for me? If I have to open it myself I might chip a nail."

Grimacing, but only slightly, Perry obliged.

_

* * *

_"…and that's why Dr. Cox hasn't been to work the past few days." 

"_What_? That's completely insane – he's probably just sick –"

"I'm not making this up, honestly. After, Dr. Cox bolted straight after her, to patch things up, I assume, and his intern – you know, the one with the hair – and that blonde nurse tried to follow. Nurse Espinosa stopped them; yelled at them right in front of the nurse's station. You should ask Laverne about it."

"What blonde nurse?"

"She might actually be a doctor. You know the one. She slept with what's his name."

"Oh, her. What did she have to do with it?"

"Well, she's the intern's friend, I think. What's _his_ name? Jo…Ja…Jack Dorian. J.D."

"Oh, J.D! I know him. He's not an intern anymore. Hasn't been one for ages."

"Really? I just thought…the way he chases after Dr. Cox…but I guess that's just been explained."

"Yeah, if I believe a word you've said."

_

* * *

_

"How's J.D?"

Carla looked up with a smile: Turk was slouching towards the nurse's station, cracking his knuckles. Despite this reassuring return to normalcy, Turk looked worried, and Carla tried to inject some carefree confidence into her voice as she answered.

"Oh, he's seen better days. But you know J.D. There's always _something_ wrong." She gave a titter of slightly forced laughter. "He'll be just fine, baby. Don't you worry your bald head about him."

Turk grimaced, and Carla couldn't resist leaning over to give him a quick kiss. He broke away first, shaking his head.

"I just…wish I could be more helpful, you know…"

"_Baby_," Carla admonished. She hesitated for a moment, glancing around for Laverne, before going on. "Baby, you're so disturbed by the idea of Dr. Cox and J.D that I _really don't think_ –"

"_That's not my fault_!" Turk's voice dropped to a guilty but fiercely defensive whisper; he too glanced around the nurse's station before continuing. "You said, 'looks like your husband's got a boyfriend'. _'Looks like your husband_' – baby, how am I supposed to _not _be disturbed? And hey – it's okay to not be okay with it! I mean, he picks Dr. Cox? Anyone _but_ Dr. Cox! And – and – it's okay to not be okay with it!"

"Dr. Cox isn't that bad. After all, I dated him." Carla began to laugh, leaning on the counter, but stopped and withdrew when she saw Turk's expression. "Not funny yet. _O_kay."

She turned around; fingers reaching instinctively for a chart someone careless had left lying on the counter. But Turk hadn't left yet.

"Hey, baby. Seeing as you call J.D my husband, I was thinking, I'm gonna start calling Elliot your –"

"No," Carla interrupted with a forced smile, turning back. "Speaking of which, how is _she_?"

"Oh, you know Elliot, she'll, uh, she'll get though this." Carla gave him her most skeptical look, and after a minute, Turk lowered his voice and added, agitatedly, "Keeps heading into the supply closet when she thinks nobody's looking. She, uh, wanted me to ask you to tell J.D…"

Carla pulled back. "_Nuh-uh_. She wants to apologize; she'll have to apologize to his face."

"Baby, it was going to happen anyway!" Turk defended, gesticulating. The higher his hands reached, the higher his voice became. "J.D didn't have a chance of keeping it quiet."

"It sounds to me;" Carla retaliated energetically, though softly, "like Elliot's being all _morally righteous_ here. But uh-uh – I mean, _she _was…with…" The sentence lost steam. Carla swallowed several times, feeling more than a little sheepish.

Turk shrugged at his wife's discomfort. "Hey, at least Jordan's hot."

But Carla only shook her head, shuddered, and snatched the clipboard off the counter. She was already halfway down the hall with it when Turk called after her, teasingly.

"It's – it's okay not to be okay with it, Carla! It's okay to not be okay!"

"No sex tonight," Carla answered threateningly over her shoulder. "No sex _ever_."

* * *

**A/N: So…a bit of an odd chapter, right? A little…staccato, I know – three parts, I suppose: the Cox/Jordan negotiation, the section about the rumors, and the Carla/Turk discussion. Perhaps I should rename the chapter to, more aptly, "Aftermath", because that's essentially what I tried to write it as: what happens to Jordan & Dr. Cox, what happens to J.D & Elliot, and what happens to "the hospital" as a whole. I also absolutely love the Turk/Elliot friendship, so I wanted to explore that, and making the 'opposite' friends help J.D & Elliot out separately because they were each so uncomfortable about their friends' relationship seemed appropriate and…not a little amusing to my admittedly twisted mind. So many fics have Turk **_**freaking out **_**about Cox/JD, and whilst I can see this happening, J.D is his best friend, and does care about him – so this was my compromise.  
**

**A/N 2: Writing the first scene between Dr. Cox and Jordan was…interesting. It was definitely tough, but I tried to keep playing it out in my head to see if it fitted. I wanted that earnest Cox, the one we haven't seen a lot – the one he turns into when he's appealing to Jordan: the mixed frustration and desperation when he thinks Jordan's walking away from him, the slightly softer but no less determined way he explains that he's moved on and he doesn't want a relationship with Jordan again, even the one he sometimes becomes with**_**out **_**Jordan being around, such as when he's explain to That Med Student Whose Name I Forget that it isn't fair on her because there's this "**_**unavailable**_** nurse". In other words, the Serious Cox – the one who knows there's a lot at stake. It's not one we see all that often, and I hope I did him justice. ****Jordan was similarly difficult. I found writing her emotionally terribly hard. I figure that Jordan, who uses such expressivity to deal with banal arguments, or even banal discussions, would do the exact opposite when it's something she actually cares about – as in, go cold and emotionless.**

**A/N 3: In case some of you are confused about the timeline (since I sure am): the 'cafeteria scene' occurred on some day like a Wednesday or a Tuesday. The scene between Jordan and Dr. Cox, directly after the confrontation. The scene with Carla and Turk (which I hate, by the way, for its painfully awkward writing), on the Thursday of Friday of the same week (during which neither J.D, Elliot, Jordan, or Dr. Cox have been showing up to work). **

**Reviewers:**

**Marie Terensky: **Indeed, is she not? I would be Very Pissed. But of course she was just acting on an impulse, naively thinking that there was nothing left between Dr. Cox and Jordan. It's what a lot of people having an affair think, if all the "he'll never leave his wife for me" moments in the media are any proof.

**psychotic KAT: **Thank you! Chase scenes are always good, very soap opera ish. I'm glad you like the angst. I fear I'm a little heavy-handed with it sometimes.

**vanishingact: **foams at the mouth with passion for her reviewers Thank you!

**snow887: **I love you for still reading – and, even better, reviewing! You shouldn't have to be too patient anymore, seeing as I've been writing quite a bit over the holidays. And yes – it is all out in the open, but it'll be some time until J.D/Cox is out in the open. Sadly.

**LunaML: **Well, thank you very much. I hope and pray I can continue to keep pulling it off.

**Elise Davidson: **It's ironic, but to get myself back in the Scrubs mood, I've been surfing the LJ fandom for a little while, & your name has popped up quite a few times on recommend lists. HMMMM. hugs youI haven't read much yet, but what I have read…is fabulous. Getting back to Compromise…you go back and read it? …wow. You are such a nice reader. And now I'm going to get teary. But, in all seriousness, thank you ever so much. It's always really really nice to get an assurance of (at least semi) in character characters, if you'll excuse the awkwardness of the phrase, because that is, in my opinion, what slash is all about, and why slash (and other unconventional pairings) is so damn fun to write. So, thank you, thank you, thank you, and I'm _so _glad I inspired you, for the entirely selfish reason that it means you will write more Scrubs fic for me to read. hugs very fiercely

**Special Agent Fluffy: **The love is there, and it is much appreciated. I'm glad you guys are still enjoying it. sheepish smile

**Yoshikimos: **Your wish is my command! M'glad you're enjoying it, thanks.

**Absolute Obscurity: **ACE? ACE?! Indeed. Thank you, honja! _Especially _for liking Elliot. I had to rewrite her 12 times or something, because every time I tried to write her she was either Rose from _Doctor Who_ or Cameron from _House_. It was rather frustrating to say the least. So, thank you thank you, and agreement on the Determined!J.D! (The Carla thing amuses me – she's in it for 2.2 seconds XD)


	9. IX: A Knee Jerk Reaction

Compromise

**Length: Still expanding.  
Pairing: JD/Dr. Cox, Jordan/Elliot  
**_**in this chapter: **_**Jordan/Cox, J.D/Elliot  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Slash, obviously. And see above.  
Set: Post 5th Season.  
Songlist: Rockets, **_**Cat Power  
**_** Not What You Want, **_**Cat Power**_

**A/N: Okay. Again, for anyone who is icked out by het (which amuses me greatly); there's some warning in the pairing section above. Personally, I'm a big canon! JD/Elliot shipper, but this **_**is **_**a JD/Cox story, and you needn't fear that it will suddenly veer off into the realms of Jelliot for more than a couple of chapters. And even so, it'll be stepping-stone Jelliot, just as the Jordan/Cox is. So fear not!**

**A/N 2: Sorry YET AGAIN for the wait. But hey – I'm graduating in 9 days. FTW, thank you very much. **

**A/N 3: The usual reminder: ****I will update**

**Warnings: HET. Slash. Kind of lackluster writing. O.o. **

**Dedication: Uhhhh. Snow887 for leaving me the sweetest review.

* * *

**

IX: A Knee Jerk Reaction

Neither Jordan nor Dr. Cox showed up to work the next week. Monday dawned, both rainy and windy, and a desolate J.D, hair unusually limp, walked directly into the sliding doors of Sacred Heart.

"Good morning, Dr. Whoozitz."

J.D raised his head from his sprawled position on the concrete. The doors he had just run into were now magically open, and the Janitor was standing in front of them with a broad grin on his face. He held up his hand, chuckled, and flicked it upwards. J.D watched, feeling thoroughly depressed, as a shiny penny soared off his thumb to cartwheel through the air.

The Janitor caught it. "I've decided to tally the score from now on. And that's one for me. Now vamoose."

The day did not improve much. The scene in the cafeteria had become, over the past few days, the subject of a substantial amount of gossip. J.D was fairly experienced in being under discussion in Sacred Heart, what with all the pranks-with-Turk and sex-with-Elliot that the past years had involved, and he knew by now what to expect: those who had witnessed the scene first hand knew enough to draw the appropriate conclusions, and whilst they were going to be painful enough, those he had _not _been in the cafeteria that day were going to be far, far worse.

As it turned out, J.D was right. The Janitor had actually done him a favor by delaying the moment of his entrance slightly, because the second he crossed the threshold, J.D was accosted by a curious and not entirely well meaning amalgamation of colleagues, superiors, and underlings, all demanding to know, with varying degrees of subtlety, what on earth had happened. At lunch time he managed to shake them off by eating in a patient's room, but the instant he emerged, wiping crumbs off his mouth, a voice called out to him.

"Q-tip! Over here, I got cookies!"

"Cookies?" J.D raised an eyebrow, not fooled for a moment. He was really having a terrible day. Most of it so far had been spent wondering around with his eyes fixed determinedly on the floor, as this seemed the one reliable way of warding off questions. But of course, he had to raise his head occasionally, and when did, the vultures were waiting. "What's the catch?"

Laverne dropped her jaw in artificial offence and opted for a mothering tone. "No catches here, pudding. I'm guessing you've been having a rough day – a little bird told me you were there when whatever happened between Dr. Cox and hismissus happened."

"A little bird?" J.D queried warily, still refusing to meet her eyes. A part of him was tempted to correct Laverne on Dr. Cox and Jordan's marital status, but in the light of recent events, J.D's opera singer was intoning a loud _mistake. _"What little bird?"

In response, Laverne shifted silently, but her reluctance to answer didn't matter. In an instant, J.D knew the answer anyway: the Janitor poked his head around the corner, grinning broadly and clutching on to his security-blanket mop.

Automatically, J.D affected a tight smile. "Shouldn't have asked. Hello again, Janitor. Do I get to ask to what I owe this particular knife in the gut?"

The Janitor chuckled. "That's one more for me, Scooter. I'll beat you eventually."

"Why?" J.D asked, voice going very small. "Why, how many points do I have?"

"Mmm." The Janitor leaned on the handle, thoughtfully. "I don't know the exact count, but I'd say over 50. I'm counting retroactively."

"How did I get so many points?" J.D yelped.

"Well, you just greeted me by the name of "Janitor". You figure it out, genius."

J.D whimpered under his breath. He was starting to feel distinctly sick, so instead of answering immediately, he opted on swallowing a couple of times as the Janitor shrugged, smiled and moved past, humming to himself.

"Well – thank you, as always," J.D yelled after him once he was no longer afraid of throwing up on the Janitor's freshly "cleaned" floor. "You make my day!"

He balled his fists and turned around to run straight into Elliot. Her jaw dropped along with the files she'd been carrying.

"J.D!" She exclaimed, voice catching more than usual, "J.D, I'm sorry."

Angry as J.D was at Elliot, she was far more reassuringly familiar than an overly friendly Laverne. And there was another, more underhanded reason for not antagonizing Elliot.

"Well, hello, Pinkie!" He tried to sound cheerful. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Elliot frowned at him, totally nonplussed. Her hands moved to the stethoscope around her neck, as it always did when she was confused. _She doesn't watch_ _Cartoon Network?! _J.D was scandalized.

"Did – did you just have one of your weird fantasies?" Elliot shook herself, disturbed. "Look, J.D...what I did to you…you must hate me."

"No, Elliot! Hate you?" J.D scoffed at the suggestion. "I don't hate you. I mean, hate is…such a strong word…"

Elliot made a noise between disgust and guilt. "What do you want?" she said after a moment, releasing her stethoscope to cross her arms over her chest. "You're not the only one having a bad day."

What _did _he want? J.D hesitated, glancing around quickly before seizing Elliot's arm and yanking her away from the nurse's station and down the hall. Predictably enough, she let off a high pitched shriek and began to protest in a slightly lowered voice, as though trying to appear inconspicuous whilst simultaneously dragging her heels on the hospital floor: "J.D, I have work, come on, not now!"

"I get it if you're angry at me but that is _no _reason to…to _kidnap _me!" she declared indignantly when he had finally pushed her into the supply closet and one-handedly shut the door behind him. "I have a…a very important patient to take care of –"

J.D closed the distance between them. The room was dimly lit, and combined with their sudden proximity, contrived an atmosphere that made Elliot take several wary steps backwards. J.D touched her shoulders, attempting to calm her down. The last thing he wanted was to make her panicky. A panicky Elliot was like a hurricane, and it would plough him aside before making its way through the hospital, leaving destruction in its wake. The visual made him freeze up for a moment, eyes going distant.

"J.D!"

He snapped out of it. "Just hear me out, okay? What I wanted say was that…Elliot, you don't need to ask the Janitor out just because you're trying to figure some things out."

Elliot made a catlike noise of surprise and anger. "Turk _told _you that I…?" she demanded, infuriated. "I can't believe he told you!"

"Turk told Carla, who told me," he answered quickly. "But look, Elliot, what I'm saying is…we're pretty much in the same situation right now, you and I. And I know what I'm thinking…and I think I know what you're thinking…"

The mood from earlier, temporarily dispelled by Elliot's cat noise, crept back with the silence that followed this pronouncement. Not for the first time since this mad idea had occurred to him, J.D wondered whether it really was wise for him to push Elliot so soon after The Cafeteria Scene, capitalized into a title in his mind. Her reaction seemed to verify this doubt; she was chewing on her lip as she squinted at him in the darkness.

"J.D, I really don't think that's a good idea…I mean, you and I kind of have this habit, when we're in a mess…"

J.D cut her off. "No assumptions. No consequences. Just a quick and easy answer to the mutual question of, 'Am I still even re_motely_ straight?'"

"God, I hope so," answered Elliot glumly. "Or else I have to call my mother and say I've changed my mind and 'gone over to the dark side', as she likes to call it. She always did think I was gay, ever since she met my college roommate Daisy…I think it's because she had such short hair…and the snuggling couldn't have helped…"

J.D listened to Elliot's lengthening spiel with wide eyes. He knew that Elliot could go on and on – especially when it came to Daisy – and then the mood would be ruined because one of their pagers would go off and J.D would have to emerge back into the murky halls of Sacred Heart with the frightening knowledge that he could not get Dr. Cox out of his head. This was not an unusual predicament, but the hugs J.D had always daydreamed about had somehow morphed into…slightly more explicit activities. Whilst the fiasco that had constituted their "relationship" for the past few weeks could easily be blamed on Perry, and therefore enjoyed fully and guiltlessly, _pining _after Dr. Percival Cox was not an acceptable milestone in his never-ending quest for manhood, and marked the beginning of a worrying obsession that had once been completely platonic, but could no longer unblushingly be called so. Faced with this terrifying possibility, J.D did the only thing he could think of: he seized Elliot by the shoulders again and kissed her.

For a second, J.D thought she wouldn't respond, but after a moment of stunned inertia, she did, and relief flooded him. The kiss, when J.D had imagined it, had been short and brief and in no way the beginning of something, but he had not anticipated the familiar feel of her slightly smaller lips on his. It took a nasal speculum falling on his shoulder for him to realize what had been a simple, friendly kiss was now a pash with hands under respective shirts, and god knew what base that was up to.

And then his pager went off. Breaking away, finally, J.D gave Elliot a half apologetic, half embarrassed look and glanced down at the message. It was serious, and any stunned astonishment he might have felt at what had just happened, making his reflexes slow, was gone in an instant. Avoiding Elliot's eyes, J.D flicked the light switch, found the door knob, turned it, and rushed out.

"Why didn't I just reach over his shoulder and switch the light on to begin with?" Elliot wondered aloud, alone, half standing with her back against the cupboard, holding a nasal speculum she had found on the floor. "Elliot Reid, you are such an _idiot_." She smiled. "But at least you don't have to call your mother."

* * *

**A/N: Please, don't lynch me, anyone.

* * *

****Reviewers:**

**Marie Terensky: **If only the rumors POV were my idea. XD But thanks all the same.

**psychotic KAT: **Thank you! Chase scenes are always good, very soap opera ish. I'm glad you like the angst. I fear I'm a little heavy-handed with it sometimes.

**vanishingact: **foams at the mouth with passion for her reviewers Thank you!

**snow887: **Thank you so very much! I'm glad I could cheer you up. I hope this update comes at an opportune moment as well.

**a storm in a teacup: **I'm very glad you like it.

**Liveforthemoment-13: **Thanks for your review, and for liking that last line. It sounded Carla-ish in my head!

**LunaML: **Hah! You lie. I am losing the ability to write. But thank you anyhow.

**Black Goblin: **J.D's a big boy, he can take the hit. And it'll be worth it in the end. XD

**psychotic KAT: **This comment amuses me so much. You may want to avoid this chapter too. XD

**lil bishi hunter: **Thank you! That's really nice to hear. It's a lot more fun, actually, from this angle.


End file.
